ruins
by achieving elysium
Summary: Sequel to familiar; Altean!Lance AU. Separated and stranded across the universe, Team Voltron must find their way back to each other, and even then, that is the least of their problems. Though Lance has faced both his past and Zarkon, trouble continues to brew on the horizon as they work to gather allies old and new to defend the universe. The fight has only just begun.
1. Chapter 1

**ruins**  
 _chapter one_

* * *

Lance stirred.

The first thing he noticed was how cold it was. He curled in on himself, tucking his knees to his chest.

It was pain that woke him fully. Lance shot up with a gasp. A burning fire raced up his side, raging at his body, and Lance had to reel in his panic and confusion slowly, telling himself everything was okay.

He took a deep breath followed by another before he uncurled his body slowly. He found the left side of his armor covered in caked blood; Lance peeled it away slowly, an involuntary keen passing his lips as the pain flared.

Lance let himself take a small break, leaning back in the pilot's seat as he tossed the pieces of his armor to the floor. His side looked like it was still bleeding sluggishly, and he picked at the torn flight suit still clinging to his skin.

"Okay," he muttered, but panic made breathing difficult and his thoughts unclear. "Okay. Okay. It's okay."

His voice echoed strangely in his ears. Lance let his hands hover, not sure what to do first.

He had no idea how long it'd been since the battle, nor did he know what had happened to the others. Lance tried to contact them now, turning the volume on his comms up and clearing this throat.

"Hello?" Silence stared back at him. "Hello? Anyone…?"

Faint static was his response. Lance groaned, wrestling with hopelessness as he tugged his helmet off and let it join the rest of his armor on the floor.

He looked around at the darkness in the cabin and knew without trying that Blue wouldn't respond.

Lance tried anyway. "Blue?"

He held his breath, listening, but there was nothing.

"Blue…"

He staggered to his feet, hissing when his side began to throb. Lance remembered he'd hurt his knee, too, and caught himself against the wall before he could pitch over.

Lance wanted to cry. He shuffled forward a few steps, relying on the dim light from outside and what little he got from his armor to see. It didn't take long to reach the back wall of the cockpit. Lance felt around for the notch in the wall and pressed it. A light lit up as the drawer pushed outwards, and Lance took the med kit out, relieved.

He sunk to the floor, angling himself so he could see his side. It wasn't pretty. Lance made a face at it before pulling out a small tube of healing cream; he smeared a bit on his fingers and sniffed it. Didn't seem like it'd expired, though the medicine was ten thousand years old.

It didn't matter. It was what Lance had, so he squeezed some out and spread it over his side and then his knee. The relief was immediate, a cool tingling calming the pain and tugging it under control.

His healing skills were far from perfect, as much as Elolith had tried to teach him. Still, Lance managed to bandage his wounds—enough so he wouldn't bleed out, which he counted as a win.

Lance found his helmet on the ground and lifted it up.

"Hello?"

It wasn't any use. There was no one. Lance shivered and rubbed his hands over his eyes, pretending there weren't tears in them.

"Shiro…?" His voice was small to his own ears. "Allura? Coran? Is anyone there? Hunk, Pidge—"

A crackling sound filled the stale air, and Lance's heart pounded in his chest at the sudden noise.

"Hello?"

" _Cr—z—any—z._ "

Lance did cry then, pressing a hand to his mouth to muffle the sound. He wasn't alone.

"Can you hear me?" he said loudly. "It's Lance. Can you hear me?"

Crackle, crackle. " _—hnn—Lance_?"

He laughed. "Hunk!"

There was more static, but suddenly Hunk's voice was clearer.

" _Lance! Thank God you're here, buddy. I thought I was all alone in this giant freezing ocean, and Yellow's got a bit of power but she's kinda down—of course she is, we just fought a battle against Zarkon—wait, holy crap, we just fought Zarkon…_ "

Lance stopped listening. "An… ocean?"

"… _and the others, I wonder— yeah, man. Have you looked out the window?_ "

"Um," Lance said. "Not really. I've been… busy."

" _We're on some kind of ocean planet_ ," Hunk explained. " _There was a lot of ice on the surface, though we just kind of broke straight through. No idea if there's any life here._ "

Lance walked slowly to the dashboard, pressing his hands to the cold glass and staring out into deep blue. Shifting light showed different hues of water.

"Oh," Lance said.

" _You okay over there, dude? You sound… weird._ "

"Yeah," Lance whispered back. "No, I'm okay."

" _Is Blue up? I'm running on reserve power. Crash messed with the main engines._ "

Lance silently called for Blue again. He let loose a long sigh when nothing happened.

He didn't remember crashing, only remembered falling, wondering if his last moments were going to be spent alone—no Lion, no team, just him.

"No," he said softly. "Blue's, um, out."

Hunk swore over the comms. " _Uh, I don't know if I can track you right now. I don't have anything I need…_ "

Lance's blood began to sing. There was an itch under his skin that only got worse with every passing second.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "We'll find each other. Blue will wake up soon—in the meantime, I'm gonna go exploring. Keep your comms on, yeah?"

" _Lance, I don't like that tone._ "

Lance pressed his hand to the button that would release Blue's jaw. It creaked open, and water spilled in. He dove out and watched her shut behind him automatically.

Then Lance shifted. Scales crept down his torso; he didn't have to look to know his legs were fusing together. It took only a handful of seconds before he was in his myr form and twisting in the water, testing his body.

It came to him naturally, like breathing. Lance turned to face Blue and found her slightly tilted as she sunk.

" _Lance…_?"

"Yeah?"

" _I think I see something._ "

A chill crept up his spine. He spun in a slow circle, searching. "What?"

" _I don't know. Some kind of fish, maybe—woah!_ "

"Hunk?" Panic gripped him. "Hunk, are you okay?"

" _I'm fine, I'm fine. I just don't know what it is… Definitely too big to be a fish._ "

"Shark? Sharks are cute."

" _Sharks? Cute? You're kidding._ "

"Oh, come on. Have you ever swum with a shark? They're adorable."

" _And deadly._ "

Lance shrugged as if Hunk could see him. "I guess."

Still, Lance tightened his fingers around his bayard, the only other piece of his armor besides his helmet he'd bothered to take with him. It glowed softly as it turned into a trident—a gun had no place here.

" _This isn't real._ "

"What?"

" _No. Nope. Not real. You kidding me? I think I might've hit my head._ "

Lance squinted through the dark. " _What_?"

" _I think I see a mermaid._ "

Lance tried to process this for a moment before he burst into laughter. He couldn't help it, pure joy rising in him and bubbling to the surface.

"Hunk, I—" Lance wheezed.

" _I swear!_ "

"I believe you, Hunk," Lance said between gasps. "It's just—I'm literally a mermaid, dude."

Silence. Lance wondered briefly what Hunk's face looked like and promptly burst into laughter again.

" _Are you messing with me?_ "

"No," Lance said. Then he sobered. "I think you should follow them, Hunk."

" _What about you?_ "

Lance looked around. There wasn't much in sight, just sealife. Brilliantly-colored plants drifted in the water; a couple of fish swum lazily by, and Lance ran his fingers along the side of one, scales smooth to his skin. It darted away, nothing more than a glimmer of silver in the distance.

"I'll be fine," Lance said slowly. His side pulsed. "Probably. Just keep me updated."

" _There it was again,_ " Hunk reported. " _Yeah, I'm, like, eighty-percent sure_ _that was a mermaid. Oh, man, holy crap, that's a mermaid, my life is a lie—_ "

"Hunk," Lance interrupted. "Dude, where have you been for the past who knows how long? Mermaids should be, like, the least surprising thing ever."

" _Lance. They're mermaids._ "

"Got that the first time. Seriously, though, Hunk. Whoever's out there… I think they can help."

" _Roger that. You sticking with Blue_?"

Lance cast a glance back at his Lion, frowning when she still remained unresponsive.

"Yeah, I think I'll stay here until she comes back online. I'll track you once she does."

They lapsed into silence. Lance swum in tight, impatient circles.

It felt good to be back in the water again, even if it was after being tossed through a wormhole and stranded with no Lion. Even injured, Lance felt better underwater, the itch under his skin satisfied.

He'd never seen what had happened to Aestus.

Lance hated wondering, hated thinking about Zarkon setting his eyes on _his_ home and taking it. He thought of the day they'd met—Zarkon had led Voltron to help them, but long after that, he'd led an empire against them.

Without thinking, he touched the shell on his neck and murmured a quick prayer.

This wasn't Aestus. Couldn't be, not after ten thousand years, but it felt a bit like his home planet.

"There!" came a distant, warbled shout.

On instinct, Lance turned his trident so he could fight if needed. His wounds, though treated, would slow him down, but that didn't mean he couldn't skewer something.

Three figures swam into view, dark shapes that manifested from the shadows.

"Who are you?" Lance called. There was no way of knowing if the people approaching him were friends or foes, but Lance's luck wasn't exactly the best.

Out here, Lance had more enemies than he had allies.

"We could ask you the same thing," one of the strangers called. "We saw two mercats crash through the surface and sink. One landed too close to the castle, but yours was further out."

The castle. Lance filed the information away—that was where Hunk was, probably chilling with some queen by now. Didn't seem too bad.

"So… why not go meet the Yellow Lion?" he asked, not loosening his grip on his trident. "Why come find me if I'm further out? And _why_ are you wearing… uh, jellyfish?"

"Good questions that'll be answered in time. I'm Plaxum, by the way."

Lance eyed the offered hand warily. They didn't seem like they meant any harm—and, well, if Lance wanted to get back together with Hunk and the team, then he'd have to take the chance.

He lowered his trident and took Plaxum's hand.

"Talin," he said.

The myr behind her cocked his head. "An interesting name."

Lance laughed, the sound a bit hollow. "I guess it is."

He hadn't used it in a long time, hadn't heard it since—no, but Sendak had said it, venom on the tip of his tongue. Lance shuddered.

Plaxum gave him a weird look. "Are you alright?"

"Fine."

"The jellyfish are for protection," Plaxum said. "Come with me. We need your help—and you need ours, but it's too dangerous out here. Too many people listening."

Lance opened his mouth to say that there was no one around, but he remembered that there were _always_ eyes and ears where they weren't invited.

He cast another glance back at Blue and sighed.

 _Blue,_ he prompted. He didn't know if she could hear him, but… _Be safe._

There was no shield to keep others out, no power to defend. But the myr needed him, and Hunk needed him, so Lance turned away with a heavy heart.

"Lead the way."

"I'm Blumfump," the other myr introduced as they swam. He pointed to the guard in the distance, a sharp blade in his hand as he swam after them. "And that's Swirn."

"Uh," Lance said. "Cool names, I guess."

"Ah, here we are," Blumfump said. Plaxum had already gone ahead, disappearing into a set of caves. He could see distant light in them and Plaxum's figure moving steadily in.

Lance weighed his options. He didn't know if it was a good idea, going into a situation where he knew nothing about his surroundings or the others he had with him.

But he was hurt, and Blue was gone. One against three didn't sound like a good idea, either—and Lance was tired of not being able to trust.

"So… what's the deal? Why ask me for help?"

Plaxum clasped her hands before her. "We think you are our savior."

Oh. That… complicated things.

"Savior," he repeated. "I mean, I'm down, but what am I saving again?"

Swirn entered the cave, speaking up. "The coast is clear. None of the queen's, ah, helpers in sight."

"Good."

"The queen?"

Swirn scoffed. "Queen Luxia of the colony. Presides over all the other myr here—"

"By _mind-swishing_ them!"

Lance rubbed at his eyes. He hadn't even been awake for a varga.

"And… you lost me. What the quiznak's mind-swishing?"

"She controls their thoughts," Plaxum said flatly.

Oh. That wasn't good at all.

"Could've just said so," Lance grumbled. " _Mind-swishing._ "

Unease stirred in his gut. If Hunk had followed a myr back to the colony, that meant he was with Queen Luxia. And by the sounds of it, that meant he was in big danger.

"Our theory is," Blumfump began, holding up a poorly-drawn picture of who he assumed was Queen Luxia, "the queen controls minds by using her voice to strike certain head switches in your ear pan."

He held up the next picture. Plaxum continued. "And her magnetic stare locks onto your eye-to-brain pathway plug!"

"Plus her mind-control sonar is always broadcasting through the waters. Bong! Bong! Bong!"

Lance held still for a moment.

"I may not be great at science," he said, "but that doesn't sound, uh… well, very science-y."

"It is only a theory," Plaxum said.

"The entire _colony_ is under her control," Blumfump said. "The only reason we aren't is because of these jellyfish, see. They block her powers and hide our minds. You can't control what doesn't exist."

Lance pursed his lips. "Why control them at all?"

"To kill them."

His blood ran cold. "What?"

"Well," Blumfump said. We don't know for _sure_ , but hundreds of mermaids disappear, and they never come back. There's nowhere else to go—we used to be able to go above water, but she blocked over the thermal vents and froze over the surface."

"We've tried to take her out, but…" Swirn looked away. Lance didn't need to hear the rest of the sentence to know what had happened. Anger and sadness pulsed through him. He knew how it felt.

"There's only three of us now. Four, including you."

" _We_ believe you can stop her."

Not only for Hunk, but all the other myr under the queen—he had to help.

Lance took a deep breath.

"Where do we start?"

The plan was simple, mostly because it wasn't much of a plan at all. Retrieve Hunk, and get the Lions back online. That was it.

Then they'd regroup at the caves and begin planning their next moves. With the two of them and their Lions, they'd be able to stand a chance against the queen's forces.

"We know a way in," Plaxum said. "Hopefully, your friend will be asleep by then. We'll grab him while you get the mer-cat—"

"No," Lance interrupted. "I want to be there with Hunk."

Swirn exchanged a look with Plaxum. "Fine."

Lance huffed a sigh of relief.

"We'll need to prepare you," said Blumfump. He plucked a nearby jellyfish from where it was swimming and held it up. "Looks like a good fit."

Lance groaned. "Is this, uh, necessary?"

"It keeps you from her control. You will need it."

He closed his eyes. "Get it over with."

A jellyfish to the face felt exactly like Lance expected. It stung a bit; Lance felt his skin swell and moaned. He'd have to treat that, maybe add a couple products to his routine if he wanted his face to be fine after this.

"And your wound?"

Lance blinked, glancing down at his side where the Altean-made bandages had stretched and adjusted to his shift. The healing cream would help, and it'd keep the pain at bay for a while.

"It's fine," he said. "Don't worry about it."

"If that's all, we have to go. We won't have much time."

They snuck through the caves and connecting tunnels. The rock was cool, spotted with shells, and Lance ran his hand over the rough surface as they swam through. The structure ran up over his head, and Lance was reminded of the caves he'd lived in when he was young. It was almost like he was home.

"Here," Swirn said.

They'd emerged from the caves and straight in the heart of the colony. Lance had to admit it was beautiful, with arching structures that were brilliant colors. In the front was a garden he'd never seen before, bright-colored fish weaving in between tall fronds of grasses.

"This way," Blumfump hissed.

They headed towards a portion of the main castle, but not before Lance caught sight of Yellow, her shield up as she rested in the courtyard.

There wasn't really a way _into_ the castle without being caught. Lance spotted patrol after patrol swarming the place.

"Oh, don't worry," Swirn said when he saw Lance's concerned look. "We've got it."

 _We've got it_ apparently translated into busting a hole into the wall of the sleeping quarters. Lance slipped through and found Hunk wrapped in a comfortable-looking bed of seagrass, fast asleep.

He darted over to Hunk's side.

"Hunk," he hissed, shaking his shoulder. "Hunk, wake up."

"We don't have much time," Plaxum warned.

"I know," Lance said, keeping his voice low. "Hunk!"

Hunk stirred. He blinked a few times and then bolted up. "Lance!"

He lunged forward, throwing his arms around Lance's shoulders. Lance hugged him back, glad to see he was alright, and then pulled away so he could assess Hunk. He didn't look hurt or anything. Fine for the most part.

"What do you remember?" he murmured.

"Um… we got to the planet, and then I saw a mermaid. And then there was Queen Luxia, and she was _so_ welcoming, and being here is…"

"Safe and warm," three voices droned at the same time.

"Ugh," Swirn said. "Hate that."

Hunk looked confused; Lance patted his arm. "I'll explain on the way. But it's not safe here, Hunk. We've gotta get out."

"Get out…," Hunk said, but his eyes were a little unfocused. "But why leave?"

Outside, Plaxum whistled, a sharp noise that snapped Lance to attention. "We've got visitors. Hurry!"

"Go," Lance hissed, his bayard already in hand. It changed into his trident, the most effective form he could have underwater. "Hunk first. Swirn, Blumfump, help him. I'll bring up the rear and keep anyone else distracted."

It was then that two of the queen's guards burst into the room, wielding their own weapons. They wasted no time, heading straight for him, and Lance backed up. Behind him, he heard the shuffling of the others as they rushed to leave.

He caught the first blade with his trident and threw himself forward, forcing the guard back. Lance rammed his tail into the hilt of the other.

It hurt, but it did the trick, disarming the second soldier.

But the guards were faster than Lance expected. The first one blocked his swing and shoved at Lance's trident. His arms shook as he tried to keep control—but then there was the other guard descending from the other side, and Lance twisted to avoid the blow—

"Hurry, Talin!"

A blow cuffed the back of his head. Lance faltered, the world warping, and that was all they needed.

He caught Plaxum's gaze and mouthed, _go._

It was okay. They'd get Hunk out of there, and Hunk was smart and strong. He'd help.

Lance stopped fighting; he knew he'd lost.

"Don't worry," the first guard said, and her face softened. She tossed her blade to the floor and gripped his arm, firm enough so he couldn't escape, but not painful.

The second guard grabbed his other arm, and her eyes were fixated on him.

"Here you will be safe and warm," they said together.


	2. Chapter 2

**ruins** _  
chapter two_

* * *

Lance was dragged through twisting, twining halls and then brought to who could only be Queen Luxia. His tail scraped painfully against the ground, and Lance winced as the guards' hold only grew tighter.

Queen Luxia cocked her head.

She didn't seem so terrible, now that Lance was in front of her. Her eyes were wide and friendly, her stance welcoming. There was no aggression in her open arms or the curve of her body.

Appearances, Lance knew, could be deceiving.

"Release him," she snapped. "Is this how we treat guests?"

"My Lady, the rebels…," said the guard to his left, but she obeyed anyway. Lance sighed as he was released.

"Prepare a room for him," Queen Luxia ordered. "And call for a healer."

She reached a hand out, but Lance flinched back, hissing.

"Please, Lance," she said. "I want to help you."

Lance swallowed.

 _Mind-control_ , he thought. He couldn't let her do—well, whatever it was she did, not on him. Then he would be in danger, and so would Hunk.

"No, you don't. And it's _Talin_."

Queen Luxia reached for him again, but free to move, Lance shot backwards out of grasp. He scanned the room—there were too many guards and too little escapes, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to make it far.

"Queen Luxia!" A myr burst in, bowing her head respectfully before continuing. "We've just located and transported the blue mercat to the courtyard with the yellow one."

Lance's stomach dropped.

Queen Luxia inclined her head. "Thank you, Leiv."

Blue. Blue _and_ Yellow, both in possession of Queen Luxia. He couldn't leave them.

"Talin," Queen Luxia said gently.

She was so sincere it ached. She really did look like she wanted to help him, and Lance hated that a part of him believed her.

There was no way out.

He wasn't going to let his guard down, but he was being offered healing. Food, maybe, a place to sleep for the night. He had to take advantage of it.

Lance eyed Queen Luxia warily.

"Alright," he said finally. "But I want to see Blue."

If he could see his Lion, maybe he could wake her up. Then they could grab Yellow and get out of there, far away from the mind-controlling queen and on their way back home.

"Done," said Queen Luxia. "But first, you must rest. Come, we will have your wound looked at and some food prepared."

He was escorted to a room where a healer was waiting. Lance let them work a poultice into his wound, biting his tongue to keep from crying out.

He was skittish the entire time, but finally the healer was finished.

"Return in a blas," the healer said, her face turned towards Queen Luxia even as she spoke to Lance. "I would like to check the wound again."

"Of course."

Curiosity got the best of him. "A… blas?"

Queen Luxia gestured at a small creature clinging to the wall, round and green in color, with four eyes that blinked lazily back at him.

"This is the bladir," she said. "It emits light in pulses out throughout the day, so the time between each is called a blas."

"Sorry, a… bladder?"

"Bladir," Queen Luxia corrected, but the image had stuck in Lance's mind already and refused to let go.

It made sense—so far from the surface and because of the ice, the myr would have no way of telling what time it was by the light of the nearest star or relative planets. So they'd made do with a bladir.

His stomach grumbled.

"So about that food…"

Lance was taken to a large hall where other myr were already gathered around a stone table, on which piles of food were waiting for him. Lance couldn't deny the pang of hunger that ran through him.

He didn't remember his last meal—it'd certainly been a while. And it all looked so _good_ , nothing like the food goo he was used to on the Castle.

"Come," Queen Luxia said, and this time he didn't flinch away when she put a hand on his shoulder.

He curled up at an empty spot, carefully reaching for a plate of what looked like seaweed. He eyed everyone else feasting—they didn't seem affected at all, so at least Lance wasn't going to be poisoned.

It was delicious; Lance closed his eyes, warmth filling his chest. It tasted just like the seaweed he remembered from Aestus, like what Mama would have prepared.

Music played softly through the room.

Without much thought, Lance felt himself be lulled into a hazier state, the warmth making his limbs feel heavy.

What had those guards said?

 _Here you will be safe and warm._

"Warm," Lance murmured, and the myr next to him smiled.

Something tugged at the back of his mind. He'd been here before, recognized this feeling.

It made him sick; Lance pushed away the plate of food he'd started on.

"Blue," he said. "Promised you would take me."

Queen Luxia nodded, offering her arm. Lance found himself taking it.

"I did," she said lightly. "So we shall."

He was surprised when she did as she did, leading him out to the courtyard.

A strange feeling filled his chest when he saw his Lion. He couldn't pinpoint it, really. It felt a bit like an ache, a bit of an emptiness.

"She's beautiful."

There was a lump in his throat. "Yeah. Yeah, she is."

Lance swam to Blue, frowning at the way her shield was still down. It meant she hadn't woken up at all; otherwise, Lance knew, she wouldn't have left herself so defenseless.

Still, the metal was warm when he pressed his palm to her nose. Lance focused, and his fingertips glowed briefly as he let his quintessence leak into her. It was like jump-starting a car, the same way Hunk and Pidge had when Lance had dragged them out of the Garrison to go exploring and they'd gotten a bit lost.

He'd wanted to see so much of the world that had hidden him for ten thousand years. And in came the car.

Their getaway vehicle, as Hunk liked to call it, after he'd stopped grumbling about how it was illegal and how much trouble they'd get into if they were caught. Hidden where officers couldn't find it and waiting still for their next trip to the city.

Lance wondered briefly what had happened to it. Was it still there? Had anyone found it? He could see the headlines then: **Car Found, Linked to Garrison Trio Disappearance**.

"Blue."

He threw his mind out, searching for that thread that bound them.

" _Blue_ ," he said more insistently.

There.

A faint presence stirred, so faint it seemed like the ghost of a current miles away. Maybe she wasn't fully awake, but it was enough for Lance. He swam back to Queen Luxia, and Lance felt like he was forgetting something as he looked at her, something important. Like staring at a blank question on a test with the answers _just_ there but not making it to paper.

"You won't be leaving?"

It was a threat posed as a question—or maybe it wasn't, and Lance was reading too much into it. Lance felt the words like sharp teeth dragged along his skin.

"Not without my friend."

Queen Luxia extended her hand. Lance found himself taking it again, felt warm and hazy and safe.

She nodded. "We will find him."

He believed her, but he wasn't sure what would happen after that.

 _And then what_? Lance longed to ask, but he kept quiet. Patience. Patience.

Patience yields focus. Wasn't that what… wasn't that what—

He couldn't find the words again.

"It's been a blas," Queen Luxia said. "We should return to the healer."

He spotted a wall dotted with those strange creatures—bladirs—and found them glowing as Queen Luxia said they would. They pulsed softly with a blue light that made Lance think of the night sky.

"Oh. Right," he said.

As they swam back towards the castle, Lance caught sight of the large garden that spanned the front of the courtyard.

It was, in a word, overwhelming. Luscious green grasses were peppered with different flowering trees. Fish weaved through the garden, vibrant dots darting to and fro in the water. Plants he'd never seen before, grasses and seaweeds and corals, stretched up and out. Inviting. Enticing.

"Incredible, isn't it?"

Queen Luxia was smiling.

Lance found himself a bit breathless. "It's…"

The center glowed, purples and blues and hints of pink peeking through. Lance watched it shift in the waters, transfixed.

"That is the Baku Garden," Queen Luxia explained. "It is the giver of life to our people. The waters froze over long ago, so we were forced to live down here. It provides us warmth and food."

"Here all are safe and warm," a guard echoed.

"Right," Lance said. He bit his lip. "Safe and warm."

They returned to the healer as promised to get Lance's side checked out again. After that, there was little left to do.

"Rest," Queen Luxia said. "It has been a long day, I'm sure. We can discuss your friend later… perhaps you could stay until morning."

He was already nodding. "Yeah. Yeah."

Lance never made it to his rooms. There was a sudden boom in the distance—an explosion, he thought, and Lance turned back and threw himself through the halls.

He wasn't the only one. Myr fled, some heading out to the courtyard and some in the other direction. Lance followed the sound of yelling and burst out into the open ocean.

The Yellow Lion's shields were down.

Not because she had run out of power, but because she'd been taken. Lance's fists clenched and unclenched as he tried to remember, pushing past the fog.

The Yellow Lion sent another blast towards the castle, and Lance ducked by instinct. It didn't even come close to reaching him.

"Hunk," Lance said.

Remembering Hunk's name was like finally seeing light after a day in darkness. Lance blinked, stunned, and then in the chaos dove through the water out of reach of the other myr.

He caught sight of Blumfump and Plaxum, each of them wielding antidotes, clouds of pink filling the water as they freed guards from the mind-control. Lance saw Queen Luxia, her face fierce as she met them.

"Capture the rebels and the mercat! And do not let Talin go."

Her order reverberated through the water. Lance felt more than he saw a dozen eyes on him, and he ducked under someone's reaching arms.

"Hunk!" he called out, though without his armor, the two of them had no way to communicate.

Lance didn't have his trident, either. He'd left it in the rooms, or perhaps one of the guards had taken it—it didn't matter. Hunk was here. He had to get out.

He managed to make it to Blue, forcing his way in and feeling her shut behind him. Lance shifted back, gasping as he fell to his knees, unsteady. His body groaned, but he stood, staggering to the dashboard.

Blue was in stasis; the Lions had been built to self-heal, especially after hard hits. Lance patted her side.

"Blue?" he asked. "Beautiful, work with me."

She stirred again at the sound of his voice, at the feeling of his presence.

"Come on, baby. You're my ten in a sea of ones. I need you."

Lance found his armor and hurriedly fit it on, tapping his helmet before turning the comms on and tuning in to Hunk's channel.

"Hunk?"

" _Lance?_ "

"Hunk," he said, but there was no time to spill out his relief, his gratitude, so he kept going. "Blue—I don't know if I can give backup. I'm trying, but…"

Lance heard Hunk grunt.

" _Just… try a little harder? I need you with me._ "

Lance swallowed. "Yeah."

One more time. He'd try one more time, because he needed Blue. Because Hunk needed him.

He perched in his seat and then sank into his mind. Pulled at the bond. Tugged insistently, not letting go even when Blue tugged back.

 _Blue_ , he said. _I need you_.

For a moment, nothing happened.

And then all at once, Blue came to life around him. The cockpit's lights flashed on, his seat shifted into place, and he heard a rumble deep in his bones.

 _Paladin._

Lance smiled. "Attagirl."

He fired with Yellow.

" _Yeah, Lance!_ "

" _We need to capture the queen and lock her in an ice prison Blumfump built where she won't be able to use her mind-swishing powers anymore_!"

Plaxum dove towards Blue, and she opened her mouth to let her in.

"Uh," Lance said. "Better than what I got."

" _Yeah. Me too."_

"If we can get close enough, I can grab her," Lance said.

He saw Plaxum wrapping a cord of rope around her hand. "I'll catch her."

Their eyes met, and Lance nodded. "Game on."

They dove towards the castle, and Lance saw Queen Luxia. Blue opened her mouth as Plaxum snatched the queen, pulling her in.

" _Let's go!_ "

They pulled up sharply out of the path of some guards, and Lance whooped as real warmth trickled through his body.

Queen Luxia groaned from her position on the floor. Plaxum loomed over her threateningly.

"What's—what's going on? Where are you taking me?"

"What's going _on_? I won't be letting you mind-control these people anymore, Your Majesty," Plaxum spat.

Lance stayed quiet; he knew better than to interfere.

Still, the tone of Queen Luxia's voice when she'd blinked up at them, dazed and confused… it wasn't the sound of someone who was upset at losing control of a colony of myr.

"Mind-control…" Queen Luxia said. "Me?"

She looked horrified.

The pieces were clicking together in Lance's head, his brain churning as he thought.

Plaxum tightened the rope, and Lance left his seat to grab her arm.

"Wait!"

"My people… you have to go back!"

Plaxum shook Lance off. "It's a ruse, Talin."

"I don't think it is," he said, kneeling down next to Queen Luxia. "The Baku Garden… that's what's been controlling all of us, hasn't it?"

The feeling of warmth that had washed over him after he'd eaten suddenly made sense. So did the fog that had clogged his mind, the safety and warmth.

"I… the last thing I remember is the garden falling from space," Queen Luxia admitted. "I swam out to inspect it. I thought it was a plant."

"So it _was_ the garden," Lance said.

" _Makes sense,_ " Hunk chimed in. " _I mean, the first thing I did was inhale a bunch of food… from the Baku Garden!_ "

Plaxum had let go.

"But… why?"

Queen Luxia turned her face away, bitter with grief. "Earlier today, after the incident with Hunk, I—I sent Florona away. To the Baku Garden. It's been harvesting us, I think. It's not feeding us. _We_ are feeding it."

" _Hey, uh, Lance? Take a gander to your left._ "

"Take a— _oh_ , you mean look to my—oh. That's not a garden, is it?"

An ear-splitting shriek tore through the water, and Lance cringed. He tapped Blue, and she opened her jaw.

"Get somewhere safe, you two. We'll take care of… uh, whatever this is."

" _Lance, I don't know if we can. Ah!_ "

The garden had risen, unraveling from its position in the front courtyard. Clouds of dust rose up around it, and Lance spotted its head, mouth split into four parts with a row of sharp teeth.

"That's a pretty sight," he muttered.

" _Yeah, if you're into the whole dragon-snake-sea-creature thing, sure._ "

The Baku was massive, easily a hundred times larger than the Lions.

" _Let's draw it away from the castle!_ "

"Roger that."

It shrieked again, and though it had no eyes, the Baku's head swiveled in their direction. It snarled when Hunk fired messily at it.

He got the job done. The Baku followed them, outraged.

Hunk yelled as he was slammed to the side. Lance and Blue spun out of the way and fired, but the shot went wide. They were too slow.

They recovered and turned to dive again.

Blue growled, and underneath her anger, he could feel her joy. The two of them were creatures of the ocean—this was _their_ element.

" _My Lion's not working that well! I'm not fast enough._ "

Lance gritted his teeth.

"We need a new plan."

" _I'm all ears if you've got something, Lance._ "

"It's fast—"

" _And water's wet, yeah, I know._ "

"—so we have to stop shooting where it is and start shooting where it's going to be. Follow me!"

Blue built up power, and he flicked a control forwards.

A ray shot forth, ice crackling as it formed around the Baku's head. Lance cheered after his victory.

" _Crap!_ "

The Baku broke through, hissing, and its tail rammed into Blue's side. Lance cried out as they were sent spiraling.

Blue's lights flickered. Lance hissed a curse under his breath as the lights went dark again.

"Blue," he said.

Yellow rammed into the Baku's side as it tried to come after them, pushing it out of the way before it could catch them.

"Thanks for the save!" Lance yelled, pressing his hands to the dashboard and pulsing quintessence through the contact.

" _You got it!_ "

Blue came back in the nick of time, and they darted through a narrow opening between two rocks. It didn't deter the Baku in the slightest. The creature just burst right through.

It gave chase, and Blue, still recovering, wasn't fast enough to move as it wrapped its body around her.

"No!"

They twisted to face the Baku, firing blindly at its face.

" _Take that!_ "

A huge rock dropped out of nowhere onto the Baku's tail, and Lance used the distraction to get out. It screeched in anger, shoving at the rock until it'd been pushed off.

It gave Lance an idea, though.

"Hunk! Keep doing what you're doing. Bring this whole place down."

" _Gotcha._ "

Blue purred, a section of the screen glowing, and Lance activated the sonar cannon. It formed on her back and released, the waves visible as they pulsed through the water.

"Come on," Lance muttered as the ground shook.

The Baku, caught in the waves, writhed in place as Hunk pushed more rocks down. The whole place was shaking, too, and Lance had to withdraw the cannon before he wanted to dodge out of the way.

" _Lance, let's go!_ "

They swam upwards as the falling rocks buried the Baku underneath, and Blue and Yellow met up on the way to the castle.

"That was… an adventure."

" _Dude, what was that cannon thing? You think Yellow and I could do that? That was so cool!_ "

Lance grinned. "Hey, Hunk, thanks for saving me."

" _Yeah, yeah, it was nothing. Which time?_ "

"Every time," he said.

" _That's what I'm here for,"_ Hunk replied. " _Hey… you think these guys have other non-mind-controlling foods? I could use a snack._ "

It sounded like a good idea. Lance pondered the thought as they landed.

The queen and the rebels were waiting for them. Lance popped his helmet off as he swam out to meet them, shifting halfway.

"So," he said. "Mind-swishing."

Blumfump scowled. "Mer-science is more like an art, alright? You don't always get everything right."

Hunk nudged Lance. "Doesn't he sound _just_ like Coran?"

The two of them grinned at each other.

"I miss that guy," Hunk said, sighing.

"Me, too."

Lance saw Plaxum and realized he hadn't taken his jellyfish off. He popped the creature off, both of them relieved.

"My _skin_."

"Not gonna lie, your face looks a little puffy, Lance."

"Thanks, it's the jellyfish."

Plaxum looked pleased. "Ah, right. I can finally remove this."

Without the jellyfish—well. She was beautiful, radiant, even, and Lance took her hand and smiled.

"Well, _hello_."

She giggled and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you, Talin."

He thought he was going to melt—pretty girls had that effect on him—before Hunk grabbed his arm and dragged him to see Queen Luxia.

"Here, Talin," she said, waving her hand. A servant returned his trident to him, and he sighed happily, letting it switch back.

"Lance," he corrected. "Talin is my, uh, first name, I guess. My _batem_."

Queen Luxia frowned, brow crinkled in thought. "I've been meaning to ask you… you were able to shift to a myr form."

Lance's throat was dry. "Yeah?"

"You're not one of us, though, are you?"

He shook his head. While they were both myr, they were built slightly different. Lance looked more like what humans had imagined mermaids to look like, with scales that crept up his body like armor, while Queen Luxia had none. They had fins, too; Lance had seen them on arms and along ribs.

"May I ask where you're from?"

Lance shrugged. "You probably won't know it. I think… I think Zarkon must have destroyed it ages ago."

"Zarkon," Queen Luxia said. "I know that name. Before the Baku…"

"My home planet is Aestus," Lance said quietly. Blue hummed. "But we had sister planets. Aestusi are travellers; it wouldn't be uncommon if… if…"

The chances were slim, but it made Lance's eyes burn to think he'd found a piece of home out here in an unknown system. That maybe he wasn't as alone as he thought.

"Aestus," Queen Luxia repeated. "Yes. Yes, of course. You're right—I cannot tell you much, but when I was very young, my mother told me a story of how _her_ great-grandmother welcomed a group of fleeing myr searching for refuge."

"Oh, stars," Lance said, and his voice broke. He couldn't help it.

Hunk looked confused. He didn't get everything, but he seemed to have caught the gist and now gripped Lance's shoulder.

"Your _people_ , Lance."

Lance didn't know what to say, covering his face. Queen Luxia took his hands gently, looking into his eyes.

"I am not sure what happened to those myr," she said, "but know that you will have a place here on our planet if you would ever like to return. A home, if you wish."

"Thank you," Lance whispered. "Thank you. Thank you."

He reached a hand out, and Hunk gripped it tightly, grounding him.

"Thank _you_ ," Queen Luxia said. "All of you. You saved my people—our people—and you've helped free us. I will do anything to protect that… and I think you could help. Blumfump, isn't it? We seeked to eradicate you, to drive you away, but now I hope we can come together again. Will you be my advisors?"

Blumfump looked ecstatic. "Your Majesty, you ever heard of something called electricity?"

Hunk put an arm around Lance's shoulders and leaned in close. "This guy's going places, Lance."

He laughed a little, and Hunk rubbed his shoulder.

"Dunno what I'd do without you."

"Me neither."

Queen Luxia turned back to Hunk and Lance. "It has been a very long time since our planet has activated our energy beacon. But I think you have shown us that perhaps it is time to reopen our civilization and reach out to interstellar travelers once again."

Hunk bounced. "Like our friends?"

She nodded. "Like your friends."

As they went to activate the energy beacon, Lance figured that for the first time since crashing on this planet, things were turning out alright.


	3. Chapter 3

**ruins** _  
chapter three_

* * *

 _"_ _We need to talk_."

Lance raised an eyebrow at the screen. On it, Hunk was sitting with his arms crossed.

"Ominous. Breaking up with me, Hunk?"

Hunk rolled his eyes. _"You can't get rid of me. But dude, you're a mermaid. H—when did… you never told us_ that _."_

Lance ran a hand through his hair. Hunk brought up a good point; he hadn't ever mentioned to the team that he was myr. With their busy lives and surviving fight to fight, it'd completely slipped his mind.

There hadn't been any point in mentioning it, either. It wasn't like there was any time he'd needed to fully shift—tail and all—until they'd come here.

Lance spread his hands. "Surprise?"

Hunk groaned.

"Look, Hunk…" Lance started, faltering when he didn't know what to say. Around him, Blue hummed.

" _I thought you were Altean._ "

"I am!" Lance paused and scratched at his head. "Well, half."

" _Uh… that's, I mean, that's cool?"_

Lance chuckled.

"Sorry for not telling you. I just never… did," he finished lamely, making a face when the words that came out of his mouth didn't match what he wanted to say.

Hunk shrugged.

 _"_ _Well, you don't have to tell us everything_ ," he said after a beat. " _I mean, I didn't tell anyone about the time I snuck into Keith's room and found his journal. He draws a bit. Turns out Keith is a pretty good artist… oh, I wasn't supposed to tell you that._ "

Lance cracked a smile.

" _You didn't hear that from me, alright? Anyway, can you like… are you a good singer?_ "

Lance could carry a tune well enough, but he wasn't spectacular.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

 _"_ _Like… sirens?_ "

Lance stared ahead blankly. "What are those?"

Hunk threw his hands up. _"That's it. I'm done. Has the Castle landed yet?_ "

Lance frowned at the screen, confused, but he turned to look outside anyway. They'd climbed into their Lions once the Castle had appeared through a portal. The sight had been so welcome Lance wanted to burst into tears, but he'd settled with shifting back instead.

They were currently trying to land, but the broken ice made it a bit difficult. Hunk and Lance had been told to stay put until they had.

"Why can't we just… fly there?"

 _"_ _I think they want to come down and meet Queen Luxia._ "

Hunk sighed.

"Why don't we go say hi anyway?"

It was nice, being surrounded by water – given, of course, that there was nothing trying to kill him. But Lance had found he'd missed the Castle halls, too… and the people that inhabited them.

Up above, the Castle seemed to find a steady place to stay afloat.

It didn't matter; Blue was already moving, cutting through the water. When Lance looked over, Yellow was following them, the two Lions gleaming as they inched closer to the light.

The hangar was a welcome sight. Lance made sure he was almost-dry before he left Blue, patting her head fondly.

Hunk had moved faster than him, already standing on the main deck. He was busy trying to squish everyone against his chest, and Lance smiled at the sight.

Pidge glanced up as he entered and seemed to light up.

"Lance!"

The others turned, and he waved just as Pidge slammed into him. Lance laughed, stumbling back a few steps and wrapping his arms around Pidge.

"Good to see you," he said, and Lance couldn't help ruffling her hair. She peered up at him.

"Yeah."

The others had caught up by now, and Coran gripped his shoulder, eyes wrinkling as he smiled.

"Lance."

Lance beamed. "Hello, Coran."

Hunk joined the hug, and Lance wanted to melt with the warmth that was spreading in his chest.

Allura lingered, opting to touch Lance's shoulder like Coran had instead of joining the hug. She was smiling, too, glancing over at Keith, who had made his way over.

Their eyes met, and Lance felt his lips lift higher. Keith's mouth curved upwards slightly; he nodded, and it made Lance grin even more than he thought possible.

"Hey, mullet man."

Keith rolled his eyes and looked away, but there seemed to be a pleased flush on his face.

Lance sighed as he was released from the group hug but turned his attention elsewhere, searching for a familiar face. He scanned the faces around him uncertainly, feeling his stomach sink.

"Where's Shiro?"

Hunk, who'd been babbling away about their adventures, slowed and went quiet.

"Did you not find him? Is he lost in space all alone? Wait, is he just not here—"

Keith's smile dropped; he turned his face towards the floor as he spoke.

"He's in the infirmary."

Lance blinked. Once. Twice. The floor felt unsteady under his feet.

"He's hurt?"

Keith didn't respond. Allura stepped in, smoothing her dress with her hands.

"He was injured in the fight," she said. Lance paled; he hadn't even known. Allura seemed to catch what they were all thinking and shook her head, smiling. "He'll be alright. He's in a pod now—he'll be out of them in a few varga, likely."

"No need to worry," Coran said, ever-chipper. "He'll be right as earth in no time."

"Right as rain," Pidge droned.

"Yes, yes."

Lance laughed. He'd missed this.

Hunk suddenly sucked in a sharp breath, grabbing the nearest person he could find, which happened to be Pidge.

"You will not believe—"

"Here we go," Keith said, his tone not unkind.

Hunk raised a finger at him. "Get this, Keith. _Space. Mermaids._ "

Lance suddenly felt a little awkward, inching back to get some air as he rubbed at his neck. Hunk caught the movement, and it felt like he was being locked onto as a target.

"Oh, yeah, and Lance is a space mermaid. Half. Half-mermaid. Altean… whatever."

Pidge whipped around so fast it gave Lance backlash.

" _What_?"

"What?"

"You?"

Lance winced. "Surprise?"

He cringed back, curling his arms around his torso protectively and half-expecting anger, but it didn't come.

"You're, like…." Pidge squinted at him. "But… what?"

"I know, right," Hunk said. "I found out yesterday. Or whatever day it was."

"I believe we should go greet the planets' inhabitants… it would do us good to have another ally in our fight."

"You're looking for Queen Luxia," Lance said. He glanced down and realized he shouldn't have put his armor back on, but it didn't matter; the armor would shift with him.

"Oh, Queen Luxia," Hunk started. "Oh, man! She was being mind-controlled by this freaky garden—"

Lance grinned. "Mind-swished."

"What?"

"—but the garden was actually a dragon-snake-creature thing—"

" _What_?"

"—and Lance wore a jellyfish for a while, and so did I…"

Allura smiled. "We've a lot to catch up on, I suppose. You're not the only one with a story to tell."

Lance thought of Shiro and the look on Keith's face and knew she was right.

"I'll keep watch," Coran said dutifully, patting Keith's shoulder. "You lot go on and meet this, ah, Queen Luxia."

Keith hesitated, but Coran was pushing him forward. "Go on, lad, Shiro's not going anywhere. I'll keep the comms on in case anything happens, alright?"

"I don't suppose we need the Lions," Allura was saying, leading the way to the entrance of the Castle. She glanced briefly at the screens. "It looks like they're coming to us."

Lance looked back at Keith.

"Come on, man," he said, poking Keith's arm. "I'll race you."

Keith saw through the easy goading but rose up to it anyway, a little gleam appearing in his eye that he hadn't seen until then.

"You won't even come close."

Before Lance could react, Keith had darted forward, passing a startled Pidge and Hunk.

"Hey!"

Lance chased after him. In the end, the head start won out, and Lance found Keith and Allura waiting for the rest of them.

"You cheater," Lance said, but it was hard to keep the smile off his face.

"You're just slow," Keith said back. "Admit it."

Allura crossed her arms, and they both quieted. "Shall we, boys?"

Lance dove back into the water, answering its call joyously. He shifted, feeling scales race down his torso, itching and aching. His bones groaned as they changed, but Lance was no stranger to the discomforting feeling.

The armor moved around him, becoming instead like plates. Lance nodded to himself and then broke the surface to look at the others.

"Coming?"

Pidge leapt in after him, swimming over to take a closer look. "You _are_ a fish."

"See?" Hunk asked.

They were joined by the myr, looking pleased to see them.

"You must be Princess Allura," Queen Luxia said, spreading her arms and bobbing in a sort of curtsy. Allura followed suit.

"Queen Luxia," she replied, "you have my thanks for helping my paladins."

She gestured at Hunk and Lance, and Queen Luxia looked a bit embarrassed.

"They helped me more than I helped them," she said, and Lance and Hunk glanced over at each other, opening their mouths to object. "They defeated a terrible creature controlling our colony… the least I could do was open the arms of friendship."

It was Allura she looked at then, extending her hand forward.

"And I would like to extend that offer to you as well, Princess." Queen Luxia smiled. "Your paladins' hearts are brave and true, and they proved to me it is due time we reconnect with the universe."

Keith leaned over to Pidge. "Kind of a bad time, don't you think?" he muttered. Pidge smothered a snort.

"Maybe a little," she whispered back. Her hand shot towards her nose. "Nose goes on whoever has to tell her."

Lance surreptitiously touched his index finger to his nose as Keith followed suit. Hunk, who hadn't heard the conversation but knew what the gesture meant, also touched his nose. As one, they all glanced at Allura.

She and Queen Luxia were chattering away.

"So," Pidge said after they'd been dismissed to go back to the Castle. "You related to those guys?"

Lance thought about it. "Kind of."

"Cool. Are you like Allura then? You can shift."

"I'm not very good at it," Lance said. "Only between my myr forms—mermaid, whatever you call it—and a couple others. The more familiar you are with a species, the easier it is to be like them. Allura got trained in all this stuff growing up, and for me, it was like… more of a crash course."

Keith's eyes widened suddenly. "The door."

They all looked at him blankly. "What door?"

Keith waved his hand. "That bay door, with the ships. I never knew how you got it open, but I didn't ask… you shifted?"

It clicked. Lance focused on his hand, willing himself to change, to become something he wasn't. Rough purple crept up his arm as claws emerged.

"Woah," Hunk and Pidge said at the same time. He shifted back, hissing at the way it hurt.

"Ah, the old shift-n-switch," Coran said. "Classic."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Only you ever called it the shift-n-switch, Coran."

Coran waved his hand dismissively. "It'll catch on."

Keith frowned. "Weren't you watching over Shiro?"

"Oh! Yes, that was what I came to tell you," Coran said. "He's awake. None of you responded to the comms, so I thought I'd grab some food from the kitchen and fetch you all."

"Shiro," Keith said, already moving.

Hunk clapped Coran on the back. "I'll go with you to get some food… you guys go ahead."

Pidge was following after Keith, but Lance lingered for another moment.

"You guys need anymore help?"

Coran waved him away. "I'm sure we can manage, old boy. Go on."

When he reached the med bay, Shiro was squeezing Pidge tight. He pulled back and said something in a low voice, and she smiled up at him.

Keith was a little ways back, but Shiro reached for him. He grasped Keith's arm, smile a little soft, and then tugged him into a hug. Lance averted his eyes. The moment wasn't his.

"Lance," Shiro said, and his head snapped up. He'd crossed the med bay and held out a hand. "It's good to see you."

Despite himself, Lance felt tears prick the corners of his eyes.

"You missed so much, man. Kidnapping and plant-serpents," he started, then went quiet. "Hey."

Shiro smiled and pulled him in for a hug. "I'm sure I missed a lot."

"Shiro!" Hunk cried, interrupting as he entered the room. He was carrying a tray stacked with plates. Coran came after, arms full of blankets. "Man, am I glad to see you."

Lance knew that if he hadn't been holding the tray, he'd have suffocated Shiro in a hug. Hunk gingerly set down his stuff, nodding at his array of food, and then threw his arms around Shiro.

"I'm so glad we're back together," Hunk started. "I mean, you're the leader, you know, and—"

Shiro cut Hunk off. "Me, too, buddy."

They ended up on the steps of the med bay, sitting in various positions with blankets and food goo and cups of honji tea.

Shiro and Keith, Lance learned, had ended up together. Keith had managed to save Shiro and fight off some lizard-like creatures. Pidge, on the opposite end, had been alone. It made Lance feel awful, knowing that she'd had to work to get herself out. Lance didn't like being alone most of the time, knew how crushing it could get. Still, she'd managed to fashion a satellite to contact Allura, way better than anything Lance could have done.

When it got to their turn, Hunk and Lance looked at each other.

"Sorry to say this, guys, but your story has nothing on us," Hunk said. "We're talking mermaids and sea serpents and, like, wow, oh, _man_."

He dove into their story, gesturing wildly as he told it. Lance was content to sit back and enjoy it—he'd once been called Storyteller, but Lance let Hunk take center-stage.

When they got to the part about the Aestusi, Hunk went a little quiet as he recounted it. Shiro leaned towards Lance.

"Family?" he murmured.

"Might be a bit related," Lance said back, then hesitated. He considered the team. "But… you all are my family now."

It felt a bit like coming home, then.


	4. Chapter 4

**ruins**  
chapter _four_

* * *

The lights were dimming as the team trudged back to their rooms. Lance remained where he was for just a little longer, not wanting to leave the warm nest of blankets just yet.

"Don't fall asleep here," Pidge warned as she stretched. She rolled her shoulders back. "Not comfortable. Trust me."

He waved her away. "Soon," he said. She shrugged and then disappeared, light as a bird. He thought maybe he could see Elolith in her shadow.

 _Sleep_ , a distant voice prompted, and Lance yawned. Blue was right. It'd been past midday when they'd reunited, and now evening had just about settled according to the Castle's time.

Thinking about it, Lance couldn't remember the last time he'd had a good night's sleep under his belt. He yawned again and decided now was the right time and slowly got to his feet.

A flash of pain chased a bit of the tiredness away. Lance suddenly remembered the wound he'd gotten from Zarkon—treated, now, by Queen Luxia, but definitely not healed.

Lance glanced back at the healing pods. With the rest of the team leaving or already gone from the med bay, it seemed too quiet and too empty. The last thing Lance wanted was a nap in the healing pod, cold and unyielding, and the second last thing Lance wanted was more fussing.

He didn't quite get his wish; Blue seemed to catch on and poked worriedly at him. He grumbled back at her, snatching one of the blankets to take back to his room.

Lance crossed paths with Allura on the way there. She smiled.

"Sleep well, Lance," she said. "We'll be taking off soon enough, but there's nothing particularly pressing, so there will be a few vargas to get some rest."

He managed to smile back at her, tired as he was. "Sounds nice. I'll see you in the morning, then." Lance bobbed his head. "Goodnight, Princess."

He turned, heading for the door just to his right, when Allura called after him.

"Wait, Lance," she said, and Lance turned a bit too fast, hissing when the movement tugged at his side and sent tight pain to his ribs.

Allura lowered her hand from where she'd lifted it—to touch his shoulder, perhaps—and frowned. Her brow furrowed.

"Are you alright?"

Lance pressed the corner of his arm to his side. He nodded. "Fine."

Allura cocked her head and then stepped forward. "Are you hurt, Lance? I can assist you back to the med bay—"

He was already shaking his head. "It's fine, Allura."

"But…"

Lance softened slightly. "I'd just like to sleep in a real bed for the night. Don't worry about it—it's been looked at and treated. And I promise if it really bothers you I'll go pop myself into one of the pods tomorrow after breakfast."

Allura bit her lip.

"Very well," she said after a moment, "but… Lance, you know you can ask if you need anything. You don't have to— pretend, or anything."

"I'm not," he told her, and she nodded.

"I know," Allura said. "I just thought maybe you would like to know that. And—"

She cut herself off, considering him and seemingly deciding her words could wait.

"What were you going to say?" A thought flashed through his mind. "And what did you mean to say earlier, too?"

Allura shook her head. "Tomorrow," she said, "after you've been healed."

She saw the look on his face and reached out to touch his arm. "It's not anything…" Here, she stopped to think. "It's not anything wrong. With you, anyway. No trouble. I just wished to speak with you about something that crossed my mind, but I think it's been a long journey for us both."

Lance loosened up. "If something's wrong—er, well, bothering you, you can tell me now. Sharing troubles goes both ways."

Allura looked away. "Tomorrow," she insisted. "You're tired and hurt. The words will not go away over a night."

It seemed like their positions had switched, but Lance nodded.

"Goodnight, Princess," he said. "For real this time."

She laughed. "Goodnight, Lance."

Lance wasn't sure he'd be able to sleep. He thought he'd spend the entire night restless, turning over thoughts in his head until they spun so much they'd become planets.

He was completely wrong. Lance climbed into bed without bothering to strip away his clothing, only his armor, though he knew he'd regret it later. As soon as his body had sunk into the mattress and his head had hit the pillow, he'd been out.

The sleep was a well-deserved one. His dreams were fleeting but not unpleasant.

Still, the events over the past few days had caught up to him. Lance woke up feeling refreshed but sore, his muscles protesting as he cautiously slid his feet to the cold floor.

When Lance went to stand, he had to try several times to convince his mind and body to work together. A part of him wanted to burrow back under his pile of blankets, but he knew there was no going back to sleep.

He toed a stray piece of armor out of the way and went to the bathroom, sucking in a breath when he saw himself in the mirror. It wasn't a pretty sight.

There was a scabbed-over line on his face he hadn't noticed before, a few stray marks he assumed was the jellyfish's doing. As he peeled off the sea-roughed material of his suit off, he found bruises across his arms and chest where he'd been hit or grabbed. The bandages on his side had held tight, but they needed replacement.

He climbed into the shower, scrubbing at his aching body, and found dried blood in his matted hair. It'd been too dark for him to notice; his fingers revealed a tender spot as he worked shampoo into it.

The wound Zarkon had given him had been treated well. The healer Lance had seen had done well; whatever they'd put on it had worked its magic, and it'd needed some stitches. A pod didn't sound _nice_ , really, but it did sound better than stumbling around hurt for a couple of weeks in the midst of a war.

Lance sighed, finding his old scars. More to join them, he supposed.

The water had gone cold by the time Lance remembered to get out of the shower, throwing on a fresh, soft set of clothes that made him hum with pleasure. He toweled his hair mostly dry and set out for the med bay before deciding he needed breakfast first.

He wasn't the only one. Hunk was up, bustling around in the kitchen with bowls and spoons and pans that smelled _amazing_.

"What's cooking?" Lance asked, and Hunk laughed. He scratched the back of his head.

"Well…" he started, making a face. "I thought I'd make the easiest breakfast I could think of. Kinda missed home this morning when I got up, so I wanted to make pagikeke, uh, the flat ones, but then I remembered that's the one thing I can't ever get right since it's like, one of those Mom-magic things, you know. So now I'm just making, uh, like, pancakes, I guess?"

Lance peered over to where Hunk was working. Half of what his friend said had passed right over his head, but Lance had heard _pancakes_ and was sold. They looked good, if a little blue.

"Here," Hunk said, dishing a couple onto a plate and passing him a bowl of what looked like jam. They were small, like silver dollar pancakes, though they'd been fried.

Lance dunked one in jam, not bothering to get a utensil and instead just popping it into his mouth.

"Good?"

Lance answered, the sound muffled, and then swallowed and tried again. "Yeah."

Hunk beamed as Lance finished off another. They kept up an easy conversation as Hunk continued frying the pancakes, interrupted only when Allura walked in.

"Oh, Allura," Hunk said, smiling. "Looking for breakfast?"

"They're good," Lance promised from his perch on the counter. She accepted a plate with little hesitation and then seemed to refocus on Lance.

Allura's eyes narrowed slightly, but she seemed more concerned than annoyed. "How are you feeling, Lance?"

"Mm," Lance replied. "Okay. Could use a healing pod, I guess."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Hunk said. He stepped over, holding a dripping spatula at Lance. "What do you mean, could use a healing pod."

Lance eyed the spatula and then the remaining space on the counter, which was very little. Nowhere to go.

He shrugged. "So maybe Zarkon and I duked it out a little—"

" _What_?"

Apparently the fight was news to the team. He ran his tongue over his teeth and resisted the urge to flee under Hunk and Allura's heavy gazes.

"You… fought Zarkon?" Allura asked after a moment, her voice no louder than a whisper.

Lance met her eyes evenly and nodded.

"I had to," he said simply. Remembered their weapons crossing, remembered drawing blood, remembered the way Zarkon had said _brother_.

Hunk's mouth formed words he couldn't articulate, finally shaping an incredulous laugh.

"That's, wow, I mean," he tried.

Lance shrugged again. He tried not to think about it too much; he thought maybe if he called back the words they had said to each other Lance would shut down, or throw up, or find himself doing something he shouldn't. It wasn't time yet.

Smoke interrupted them. Hunk yelped, pulling a batch of burnt pancakes from the pan. They were fed to the waste chutes instead.

Allura cleared her throat, lacing her fingers together.

"I went to the med bay before coming here," she said conversationally.

"What'll happen during…"

Allura waved her fork. "Likely we will look into some repairs… the Castle took quite a beating, and we haven't had the chance to take a look at issues. And I believe we could use some more supplies?"

Her voice turned up as she glanced at Hunk, maybe wondering if he'd want to restock on anything, mechanics or food-wise. Hunk was already nodding as he scarfed down his own breakfast.

"Fresh ingredients sound good," he mumbled. "And I'm sure both Pidge and I could use some spare parts or new tech to explore for… uh, some projects we're working on."

At Lance's curious look, he shrugged. "Mum's the word on those, bud. Sworn to secrecy until we're sure they'll work, but I think you'll like it."

"Mum's the word?" Allura asked. Hunk grinned. He delighted in talking about languages, whether it was English or Samoan or the sprinkling of French he knew. He'd been the one to teach Lance the lingo, but Lance figured sooner or later their roles would switch with Altean.

Hunk held his finger to his lips.

"It's a secret," he explained.

Lance put his dishes up and stretched.

"I'll be back," he said as Hunk continued speaking. His teammates' eyes followed him.

"I'll go with you," Allura said.

"Wait for me," Hunk said, turning the stove off and putting everything to the side. He waggled a finger at the mice. "Leave some for the others, alright?"

Chulatt squeaked.

Despite Lance's protests, Hunk and Allura joined him.

"Lance," Allura said before he could step into the pod. She met his eyes carefully, and he nodded.

Lance had spent more time in the cryopods than he liked to admit. Still, he never got used to the feeling of returning to the living world. The brief moment of awareness, feeling returning to chase away the cold, falling forwards on stiff legs.

Lance stumbled a step and then caught himself. He shook his head to clear it then looked around.

It was Pidge who was waiting for him, lost in her work. She muttered something and leaned in closer to her laptop, pushing her glasses up.

Lance opened his mouth to speak and found no noise coming out; he cleared his throat. Pidge spun around.

"Hey, Pidge."

"Lance! You're up."

They looked at each other awkwardly for a moment, and then Pidge scrambled to her feet.

"I'll, um, get Allura. Unless you… do you need anything?"

Lance settled on the steps and waved her off. "I'm fine, Pidge."

He felt a lot better than before. Lance hadn't realized how much he'd been affected until the pain and awkwardness was gone. He rolled his shoulders back one by one and stretched out, feeling good.

Pidge watched him warily for another moment, like she was afraid he might collapse, and then nodded and disappeared from the room.

Lance took the time to change, noticing the clothes that had been left for him. Before he slipped on his shirt, he checked his side and found faint scarring there. The pod hadn't been able to fix that, and Lance suspected there was probably a light scar on the back of his knee where Zarkon had nicked him. He hoped it wouldn't give him any trouble in the future.

It was comforting to be in his normal clothes. They'd been washed, too, so they were soft and smelled nice.

"Lance."

He turned around and saw Allura lingering in the doorway. Pidge was nowhere to be seen—perhaps she'd known that whatever Allura had wanted, it was going to be a private conversation. Lance pushed down the rising feeling of dread and reminded himself that Allura probably didn't have any bad intentions.

His throat was dry, though. Lance licked his lips.

"Allura," he said, inclining his head as the title _princess_ curled on his tongue.

Allura shifted on her feet. She looked suddenly as nervous as Lance felt.

"I didn't get much of a chance to talk to you," she said finally, lifting her eyes to his face. "I mean… properly. With the fights, my father, and Zarkon, and— the wormhole, well."

The words were rushed out. Lance stepped forward and dared to reach out to clasp her hand.

"Allura."

She took a deep breath.

"I wanted to apologize."

Lance's brain short-circuited for a moment. "For what?"

Now that she had said that, Lance found guilt in her tight shoulders, in the corner of her mouth, in her shining eyes.

"When you revealed yourself to us, I assumed the worst," she said, and her voice was steady. "I rejected you. I felt betrayed, and I did not realize that I was the traitor myself."

Oh. _Oh_. His heart squeezed.

"Allura…"

She met his eyes evenly. "So I would like to apologize for what I did… the words I said. I know it's not—"

Lance shook his head. "Didn't I already say you were forgiven?"

"I was wrong," Allura said, "and I would like to say that without the influence of— my father's corrupted AI haunting us. You are one of us. _Hir_."

 _Hir_. Home, family. Something molten rushed through him. A crack that lined his heart sealed itself back together.

"I think I needed that," he whispered, because that was the only thing he could think to say. Lance blinked rapidly, willing the tears to leave.

Allura held out her arms, and Lance stepped into them, wrapping his own around her shoulders. She sighed; Lance could feel her eyelashes, light as feathers, brushing across his skin.

"Will you tell me?" she asked.

Lance untangled himself from her. "Tell you what?"

Her eyes were wide. "Everything. I want to know… your story, your sufferings, your pain so that I might share it. So I might understand where I did not before."

Lance touched the places where Zarkon had torn at him, scars hidden by cloth.

"It's a very long story," he told her.

"I did not listen to you before," she replied. "I would like to listen to you now, if you would tell me."

Lance thought of the words he'd written on the walls of that dark cave, hidden away for so many years. Protected by the Blue Lion of Voltron in the hopes that one day he would wake back up and find his way home again.

"Alright," Lance said. "I told King Alfor this story when I had no one to turn to. But I guess it's long past then now. As all stories go, I suppose… once upon a time, a very, very, very long time ago…"

Lance told her the story he'd told King Alfor's AI on a dark night what seemed like ages ago. So much had changed since then.

He did not tell Allura everything, could not bring himself to cough out some of the truths. He could tell that _she_ could tell, but neither of them acknowledged the words lodged between his ribs.

"…so I fled," he said. "Bleeding and scared and with nowhere to turn. I told Blue to go as far as we dared, entered _ad unom_ and threw ourselves through a wormhole without a destination."

Allura gripped his arm. "You could have ended up… that could have gone terribly wrong, Lance."

He pressed his lips together.

"We had no choice," he said grimly. "Had Zarkon reached us, I would have died."

His chest was throbbing. Lance rubbed at it and found that made the feeling worse.

"Your wounds," Allura started.

"The prototype," he explained and saw Allura's eyes light up in memory. "The pod installed in Blue's belly… we had no idea if it would work, but we had to try."

"It worked, then?"

Lance nodded. "It was Blue's quintessence that kept it running." He chuckled. "Though she was also the one to break it. Too much quintessence, we found, rendered it completely useless. Shattered to pieces."

"A shame," Allura said. "It would have been useful… though I am glad it kept you alive."

"Yeah."

They drifted into silence. There was more to the story: the people he'd found, the Garrison, the quintessence as Blue had called night after night for the new paladins she'd sensed. But Lance found his words running dry.

"Another day," Allura whispered gently, seeing his face. There were tearstains on her face she let him wipe away. "Thank you, Lance, for trusting me."

He swallowed. "Thanks for listening," he said. "It was nice to… to tell someone."

Someone real, someone tangible. Allura, who would carry his story, who would shoulder his heartache alongside her own.

Allura turned sharply towards the doorway.

"Someones," she said, voice cold. Lance's heart dropped in his throat.

Slowly, the rest of the team shuffled out from behind the corner, tripping over each other. Allura raised an unimpressed eyebrow at them while Lance choked on air.

"We're really sorry," Hunk blurted. "Pidge said you were awake, so we all came to see you and also we have some info to discuss, and then you and Allura were talking—"

Lance held up a hand. It stung a little, to know they were listening without him knowing.

Still, there was a part of him that was relieved. They'd been wrong to eavesdrop, but now Lance didn't have to tell them all over again.

"That was wrong," he said softly. He scanned their guilty faces and found genuine remorse there.

"I'm sorry, Lance," Shiro said. His face was honest. The others echoed him.

"How much did you… hear?"

Keith scratched his eyebrow. "Uh, just the last part."

Allura glanced sideways at him, her body language protective.

"Lance?"

"It's fine," he said, then pressed again when she didn't look convinced. "Really. I would have told you all anyway."

"That was our mistake," Pidge piped up. "We, um, should've waited."

Distantly, Blue purred, coiling against his mind. _Your choice. Yours._

They were all watching him. Waiting—for _him_ , for what _he_ wanted. To listen to him, to hear the words spill from his mouth.

"I guess you'll have to hear the beginning, too," Lance said. The team trickled in, one after the other, and settled.

Allura seemed to stir a little. "Wait—not that I want to stop you, Lance—but what was that you mentioned earlier, Hunk?"

"Oh! We found something in Shiro's arm—"

" _Ew_ ," Lance said. "In his _arm_?"

Shiro lifted his prosthetic, and it clicked.

"Oh, you mean… oh."

Hunk nodded empathetically. "A code… numbers… coordinates."

Shiro's face was dark. "I think they're from someone not affiliated with the Empire… a rebel."

Story forgotten, Lance's interest piqued. "Rebel?"

A rebel force against Zarkon… that could help so much.

"I remembered something before…" Shiro started. "A Galran helped me escape."

Allura's face was pinched. "A _Galran?_ "

Shiro's voice was calm and steady. "We can trust him, Princess. He saved my life."

Lance thought of Zarkon, thought of rows and rows of soldiers, raging and tearing under his banner.

"Lance," Shiro said, meeting his eyes.

And Lance thought of the gentle Jova, daughter of one of Zarkon's soldiers who'd only ever loved painting. Thought of the Galra he had known once, the people he had seen, just like him. Though of his own flesh and blood shifting and changing to match.

Blood. Fighting.

Kindness.

And Shiro—Shiro who had seen horrors none of them had, not even Lance. Shiro, who had been held in the palm of the Empire's hand, who had had things taken from him. Shiro, who still believed in the good even after the Galra had ripped everything from his grasp.

"I'm listening," Lance said.


	5. Chapter 5

**ruins**  
 _chapter five_

* * *

"So the thing is," Pidge began, adjusting her glasses. "We ran the coordinates through the Castle database, and, well… it kind of leads to nowhere."

"Forgive me if I am mistaken," Allura said, "for I believe our cultures may have some linguistic differences. But you said… nowhere."

Pidge blinked up at Allura. "Princess, I hate to break it to you, but nowhere in English is nowhere in Altean. Like, not there. Nothing. Nowhere."

It didn't help their case. Allura pressed her lips together, thinking.

"Are you sure there's nothing there?" Lance ventured finally. "Information not in the Castle, maybe, or hidden from technology?"

Pidge sighed, eyes flickering to Shiro's hopeful face and then back again.

"There's a chance," she said slowly. "Definitely a chance. And I'm all for checking it out, but according to Coran, we'll have to be careful."

The team turned to look at Coran, who was half-listening and half-twiddling with some cubic toy he'd pulled from nowhere. When Pidge cleared her throat, he smiled sheepishly.

"Ah, right, Number Five. If I remember correctly, that area's a bit dangerous. There haven't been any sorts of civilization there considering it's a xanthorium field." He paused, considering his next words carefully for the half of the team that could possibly tune out of the scientific lingo. "Anyway, if we go there, any disturbance of the xanthorium field could blow us all to Wozblay!"

He sounded much more cheerful about explosions than Lance liked. Lance had first-hand experience—no fun at all.

"Terrible place," he commented. Coran raised an eyebrow.

"Great food." They grinned at each other.

"I see," Allura said. The rest of them sobered.

"I follow Shiro," Keith said quietly, then paused. "I mean… I think he was right, earlier. This chance of an alliance with Galra against the Empire…"

Shiro's lips turned upwards. "Thank you, Keith."

Shiro had explained—in hesitant bits and pieces—what he remembered. Some of it, of course, had been omitted, but Lance had been intrigued by the secret agent hiding under Haggar's nose.

"I know the Galra have done terrible things, but…"

Allura crossed her arms. "I don't like this."

Privately, Lance didn't like it much either. Zarkon had destroyed his own team from the inside, but the scheme couldn't have just been his own. It had been easily that many Galra had turned to follow their leader.

But Lance had decided that he was willing to give them—and Shiro—a chance; for the kindness that had once been given to him, for the Galra he had called friends, for the pockets of resistance that had formed after Zarkon's betrayal. For the Galra who had shielded him for one night, whose name Lance had never known.

"I know, Princess," Shiro said. "Believe me, I _know_. But I'm asking you to trust me."

Allura swallowed. She closed her eyes.

"We wait," she decided, and by the look on Shiro's face, Lance knew they would do just that. "One more cycle—we will discuss our plan of action and decide our next move."

Shiro inclined his head. It was reasonable and more than Lance had expected from the quiet anger and underlying grief he had caught on Allura's face. He felt it, too.

"No rash decisions," Shiro agreed. "Break time?"

Allura nodded. "Reconvene at the bridge for a meeting in two vargas' time. I daresay we all need to take some time to think."

The team slunk away, and Lance thought it was a bit sad that this was beginning to be a familiar sight by now. It meant they were spending more time in the med bay than they should.

It was Keith that Lance went to. If the other boy was surprised by Lance's appearance, he didn't show it.

"Headed for the training deck?"

Keith scowled. "Are you just… assuming I'm going there?"

Lance stopped for a moment. "Aren't you?"

Keith huffed, but Lance knew he was right. "Oh, shut up. Come on, or I'll leave you behind."

It wasn't anything particularly jabbing, but there was a line of annoyance in Keith that went just a little bit beyond how he'd usually react to playful bickering. Still, Keith had tried to deflect his annoyance. At least it meant that Lance wasn't the problem.

Keith really _was_ leaving him behind, Lance realized. He sprinted to catch up.

"Sparring or bots?"

Keith's nose crinkled as he thought about it.

"Bots," he decided, and Lance nodded. "Are you going long-range or…"

It didn't quite click in Lance's head for a moment, but when it did, the thought sent a thrill of pleasure through him. Lance liked the feeling of both of his weapons—trident and gun—but he figured using his rifle would balance out their skills more.

In answer, Lance let his bayard shift. Keith nodded.

"Let's go."

Keith let Lance program the training deck.

"Opposite side," Lance told Keith, waving to the other end of the training deck. Keith followed the directions wordlessly, only glancing back confused when he realized Lance had stayed where he was.

Around them rose pillars of metal that mimicked an environment, separating the two paladins. In the center of the training deck, on the highest platform of the room, a hologram appeared. It spun slowly in place, glittering red. The top was flat and wide, easily fitting two or three people; the platform itself was jagged and rocklike, jutting over the room.

The room darkened slightly, still visible to his eyes, but enough to add a challenge. Lance took a moment to note the different parts of the room: Keith's location, different hiding spots and perches Lance could shoot from, and the center of the room.

 _MISSION SIMULATION_ , an automated voice said, echoing around them. _LEVEL THREE._

Lance fingered his gun as the ceiling opened. Bots landed around the training deck, and the mission began.

He rolled to the side to avoid one and ducked behind a pillar that he'd been eyeing. Lance caught the bot in the knee, silently cursing when it moved too fast. His second shot brought it down.

Across the way, he could hear the distant sound of metal against metal—Keith's sword, no doubt.

Lance knew without saying that Keith would've found the challenge doable. Not easy in any way, but Keith was smart and skilled. It was entirely possible for Keith to complete the simulation on his own.

But that was the point of the mission simulations.

Lance fired off another round, taking out a bot and changing locations, moving closer and closer to the center of the room.

The mission simulations weren't meant to challenge skill in the way that some others were. These ones had been Zarkon's favorite; Lance's lip curled. They were meant to foster teamwork, to force the trainees to work together.

Lance had always thought it was brilliant.

He looked around for any nearby bots, taking a moment to listen. Nothing. Lance took his chance to put his bayard away and jump up, grabbing onto a pillar and pulling himself up.

From up in the sky, he had a better view of what was going on. He could just barely see a shadow darting between pillars on the other side. Bots patrolled around the center of the room, watchful, but there were a few other scattered in the training deck.

Lance found the glint of silver metal near Keith's general location and lined up his shot.

Hit.

Keith—right where Lance had guessed he'd been—paused, surprised at the turn of events. He stepped into the light where Lance could see him, gazing around. When he didn't see Lance, he looked up and found Lance waving a discreet arm at him. Keith waved back.

In the mission simulations, they had to watch each other's backs. It wasn't just about completing the mission. It was about working together, keeping an eye out for each other, about making sure every aspect of the mission was a success.

If either one of them were tagged out by a "deadly" blow, they failed. If either one of them completed the mission without the other, they failed.

It was together, or it was not at all.

Lance picked off a few bots that were getting too close and then rolled over, dropping quietly to the ground. He pressed himself against the back of a block and then peered around.

There was a stretch of open ground—and then the center platform. That meant no cover and a full group of bots. He could see their beady eyes scanning and scanning and scanning. A wrong move, and he'd be out for the count.

Lance readied his gun. Took a deep breath and considered his surroundings.

Once he started firing, they'd come in his direction. He didn't have anywhere to go _forward_ , but maybe he could go somewhere else and leave Keith to get the rest.

He carefully peeked out again and found a human pair of eyes that had joined the blinking red dots. Their eyes met, and Lance slowly brought his hands from the shadows and gestured.

He mouthed a few words, and Keith seemed to get the main idea.

Then Lance held his breath, aimed for the closest bot, and fired.

There was attention immediately. Whirring sounded as the bots turned in his direction. Lance sucked in a breath and ran for his life, yelping as one of the bots with a gun shot at his heels. He ducked behind another pillar and spun, firing back.

In the distance, he heard Keith make his move, drawing his sword and getting into the thick of it. Keith could handle it—there weren't many, and they were dangerous.

"Hey, dumbos!" Lance yelled, the only thing he could think to do. The three remaining bots that had chased him turned in his direction.

They ran for him, all of them holding melee weapons. One had a staff from the looks of it, but the others had swords that looked wicked. Regardless of the mission, Lance didn't want them going anywhere near him.

They chased him into a corner, pressing him against the wall. Lance hissed through his teeth, his back slick with sweat as it hit a solid surface. Then he grinned.

"You haven't gotten me yet," Lance panted, and then he charged.

He met the first bot with his trident, catching the sword between the prongs like he had with Zarkon's. Then he wrenched it to the side, spinning the trident in time to block the two blows the others had sent his way.

Lance ducked as a blade swung over his head. Without thinking, he caught the other sword and then forced the trident forwards, impaling a bot.

One down, two to go.

Lance ducked again, yelping as a blade almost caught him. It whooshed as it passed over his head.

Then a hand grabbed him, throwing him out towards the open space. Lance grunted, air escaping his lungs. Pain burst across his side like the explosion of a star, but Lance rolled over, grabbing his trident and bringing it up to block his opponent. He kicked one of the bots, sweeping its legs out from underneath it, and then cut through the other one.

Before the last bot could get up, Lance threw his trident. The bot buzzed, and the light went dark.

He retrieved his bayard, pressing a hand to his side to assess the damage. It wasn't bad, but it felt tender.

Keith was still picking off the bots when Lance arrived. He shot one that had been bugging him as Keith mercilessly drove his blade into another.

"Bet I killed more bots than you," Lance called as he dove into the fray.

"You sure about that?"

"Rally up the counters after, and we'll see."

"Duck!"

Lance dropped to the ground and heard more than saw the blade that cut through the air where he'd been. He twisted, firing on instinct.

Behind him, Keith yelped, and Lance leapt to his feet to see Keith, sword knocked from his hands.

The bot advanced—Lance pulled his gun up, ready, but he was tackled. His own bayard went flying, and Lance yelled wordlessly, kicking out and catching the bot in the chest. His fingers searched for the gun, grabbed it, and then the bot was down.

He turned to see Keith pressed against the center platform, bayard too far to reach. Before Lance could react, the bot struck—but it never hit Keith.

Keith had blocked it with a knife, holding steady against the bot's sword. Lance had the last bot down in seconds, and the two of them sighed in relief.

"Thanks, Lance," Keith gasped.

Lance massaged his side and then held out a thumbs up.

"We gotta complete the mission," Lance said, glancing up at the platform. He grabbed Keith's bayard and then slid it across the floor. Keith nodded.

"So…"

"We both have to get up there," Lance said, "or the mission is a failure."

Keith turned his steely gaze to the hologram. "Got it. Jetpacks?"

It was too high for their jetpacks, built for short distances rather than flying straight up. Instead, Lance caught the small grooves and raised edges in the metal and pointed.

"We've got to climb."

Keith went first. He was a pretty good climber, Lance noticed. He kept a steady pace up, fitting his hands and feet in all the right places.

"So," Lance said in between breaths once they'd made it three-quarters of the way. "You always carry around an extra blade?"

Keith paused, letting his weight pool to his feet, before he swung himself upwards and kept climbing. He didn't respond, and from this angle, Lance couldn't see his face.

"Hey, man," Lance started.

"Don't make fun of that," Keith snapped. "Not everything's a joke, Lance."

If Lance could've held his hands up in surrender, he would've. His arms were aching, though, and his fingers were burning where he'd crammed them into tight spots.

He'd climb the cliffs with Celia all the time when he was younger—and before Celia, it had been Ren teaching him. The skill hadn't been lost, exactly, but he hadn't gone climbing in a long time either.

"I wasn't going to make one," Lance grunted, feeling annoyance spark. He stopped and took a breath.

Keith let out an audible sigh.

"Whatever," he said, and his voice was still sharp. He'd reached the edge of the platform's top and was now calculating how to get on it.

"It's not whatever," Lance said defensively. "I was just asking."

"Look," Keith said, turning to look down at him. "That's all I've got left of my dad, alright?"

Then he turned again and pulled himself onto the platform, leaving Lance where he was.

A moment later, Keith reappeared, holding out a hand.

"Come on," he said roughly, and Lance eyed the outstretched hand for a moment before taking it. Keith pulled him up, and they both sat on the edge for a while.

"Hey," Lance began, sitting up. "I didn't know about… sorry."

Keith shrugged. "You didn't know." He cast his gaze out over the training deck. "…Me, too."

"What was uh… what was bothering you earlier?"

Keith frowned. "I don't know what you mean."

Lance was careful not to look at Keith as he fiddled with his gun and then let it dissolve back into its regular form.

"I mean something's up with you," Lance said. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Keith pull at the wrappings around the hilt of his knife, though he didn't take them off.

"I don't," Keith said, but his leg was bouncing. He licked his lips. "I just—"

"Hey," Lance said. "You good?"

That was easier to answer. Keith lifted his shoulder in a half-shrug.

"I don't know," he said truthfully. "Something Shiro said…"

Lance's stomach twisted. "You two fought?"

It sounded kind of impossible. It was just one of those things—unrealistic, but assumed anyway.

"No." Keith's tone was sullen. "You weren't there, Lance, but he was hurt really, really bad."

His head dropped a little, and he slumped over his knees. Lance scooted closer, hesitating but putting a hand on Keith's shoulder anyway. Keith didn't speak for a while, but finally sighed, rolling his shoulders back but sending Lance a grateful look.

"I just thought I," Keith said, but he was shaking his head already. He choked on the words.

Suddenly Keith was not confident or infallible, like the way he was with his blade singing through the air or the casual way he could slide into the shadows. No; he was real and tired and hurting somewhere Lance couldn't see.

Keith clenched his hand, turning his head away, but Lance caught the glimmer of tears.

"It's okay," Lance said.

"It's not," Keith said, and the words tore from his mouth like someone had grabbed them, had wrenched them between his teeth. "It's _not_ , Lance."

Lance grabbed Keith's shoulder fiercely. "It got better, Keith. Maybe it's not okay, but it got better. Shiro's here. You're here."

Keith pounded at the ground with his fist.

"He said, if anything happens to me. He said, if anything happens to me, I want you to—" Keith's breath stuttered through his teeth. "He said, if anything happens to me, I want you to lead Voltron."

"Keith…"

"I can't, Lance. I can't."

"Woah, woah, hey, hey, hey," Lance said. "Okay. Okay. That's okay. You're not going to have to, okay? You won't."

"I can't lead Voltron," Keith said. "I'm not made for it. I'm not a good leader. And leading Voltron means losing Shiro."

He bared his teeth at the thought. "I _won't_ lose Shiro."

Lance bit his cheek hard enough that it burned.

"We won't." Lance grinned. "Not going to let him go."

"Heh," Keith said. "I guess the only option then would be to find him and drag him back home."

He said the word _home_ so easily it seemed like breathing. Lance caught it.

"Yeah." Lance knocked their shoulders together. "So don't worry about it, Keith. None of that's gonna happen, yeah?"

Keith's fingers uncurled.

"No," he agreed. "It won't."

"Come on, then," Lance said, getting to his feet and hissing when his muscles protested. "We've got a mission to finish."

They went to the hologram together; Lance put his hand out, and Keith copied him. Once they'd both passed through, the hologram shuddered and then turned a brilliant green. It stopped revolving, displaying the words: _MISSION COMPLETE._

"Well done," Lance said, clapping Keith on the shoulder. "Not bad, samurai."

Keith grumbled. "Not bad yourself, hotshot. Do you have to call me samurai?"

"What do you want to be, knife man? And oh, you think I'm _hot_?"

Lance draped himself teasingly over Keith, putting all his weight on him like he would've done to a sibling. Keith cried out, hands flying for a moment before he caught both of them.

"What are you _doing_?"

Lance patted his shoulder. "It's a sibling thing."

Keith groaned. "Get _off_."

"You're my brother now," Lance said smugly. Keith was fighting a smile. "You can't stop me."

"I didn't sign up for this," Keith grunted, eventually managing to shove Lance off. Lance grinned, brushing off his armor. "We're not brothers anymore."

"Aha," Lance said. "So you admit we were."

"No longer," Keith corrected, but he was smiling now. It was a good sight. Lance had missed it.

"See, that's how I know you were an only child," Lance sang, slinging an arm around Keith's shoulders. "'Cause once you have a sibling, you don't go back."

Keith only sighed.

The nice thing was they didn't have to climb down. The room reset itself, the pillars folding inwards and the bots disappearing. The platform they were on sank slowly into the ground again.

"Man," Keith said. "I could use some water."

Lance suddenly found his throat dry. "Water…"

Keith grinned wolfishly. "Race you?"

Before Lance could process the words, Keith was already out the door. Lance yelled and scrambled after him.

They grabbed water from the kitchen, collapsing at the counter inside as Hunk watched, amused. Lance had downed his in minutes even though it probably wasn't good for him. Keith was chugging his like there was no tomorrow.

"You guys stink," Hunk said. He took off his oven mitts and sat down across from them.

"Can't tell over the delicious smell of whatever you're cooking," Keith complimented.

Hunk smiled. "Flatterer. I'm attempting macarons, but I think they're just cookies at this point."

"We'll take either," Lance said for both of them.

"You guys look like you took a beating."

"Yeah," Keith said. "Ran a mission simulator. It was… alright."

Hunk raised an eyebrow. "Alright?"

Before the conversation could go the wrong way—he wasn't sure Keith wanted to talk about what he'd told Lance—he interrupted.

"Hey, Hunk, guess what."

"You slid across the training deck in your socks?"

Lance held up a finger. "No, but I did it once. Almost wrecked King Alfor, but it was a total win."

"No _way_. The king?"

"Yeah, man," Lance said, grinning. "Actually, he and Zarkon were both there. They were like bowling pins."

"Wish I could've seen that."

Lance tapped his chin. "It might be in the logs somewhere. I think Am'lei was taping it, because originally we were going to see if I could slide across the whole thing perfectly. I mean, I did, so."

Keith brightened at the sound of his predecessor's name.

"Anyway," Lance said. "Keith called me _hotshot_."

Hunk laughed. "I don't think that means what _you_ think it means, Lance."

"Does it matter?"

"You look a little worse for the wear, buddy."

"Betrayal. Absolute betrayal."

Hunk held out a hand to high-five Keith. Lance pouted.

"Whatever," he said. "I'm gonna go shower."

"Good idea," Keith said. "Uh, see you, Hunk."

They stepped out into the hallway, going to their rooms. Keith stopped just before going in.

"Lance— thanks."

The door in front of Lance opened. He smiled. "Don't mention it."

He took a quick shower in time for their two vargas to be up. Lance met up with Keith on the way to the bridge, where everyone was already gathered.

"Training?" Shiro asked them. Lance toweled his damp hair.

"Yeah," he said.

He glanced surreptitiously at Keith, gauging his emotions. He looked fine; his hands curled up and then back down again. Keith seemed to sense Lance's gaze and turned slightly to meet his eyes. He nodded.

Allura looked regal as ever. She seemed to be deep in thought, but roused when Lance and Keith arrived.

"I think we need to proceed with caution," she said. "I would rather be careful then put us in jeopardy."

"No argument about that," Shiro said.

Coran pulled up a map. "According to the coordinates Pidge extracted, there are some nearby minor planets. Nothing quite liveable, I would say, but enough to perhaps stay concealed."

He pointed out the few minor planets.

"Yes," Allura said slowly, stepping closer to inspect it. "A fantastic idea, Coran. I would rather not have the Castle out in the open…"

"We could wormhole there," Shiro said, pointing behind one of the minor planets. "And then we could take our Lions—or just a few, maybe not even all of them—and check out the coordinates."

Coran stroked his mustache. "The idea has merit, Princess," he said. "I agree that the Castle should be hidden. And it would be too big to risk flying near that xanthorium field—not that, of course, I doubt your piloting, but the sheer size of the Castleship makes bumping into a crystal quite easy."

Lance found himself nodding.

"What about the pods?" Hunk piped up. "I mean, I know we're probably on the same side, but won't taking the Lions be a bit too… eh, flashy?"

"You've got a point," Shiro mused. "And they would be easier to maneuver."

"But more defenseless," Allura interjected. "The pods cannot compare to the Lions. If there is indeed someone there, we may be viewed as hostile."

Lance drummed his fingers on his thigh. There was no best option; they were both right. They'd just have to take a risk.

"I think we should take the Lions," Keith said finally. "And besides, we're headed towards a xanthor-whatever field, right? No one can fire at us without risking blowing everything up, including themselves."

"Oh," Shiro said. "Right."

It hadn't dawned on Lance, either, but Keith was right.

"Between the pods and the Lions, I'd rather take the Lions," he said. "If it doesn't matter either way, then it'd be nice to have Blue."

"Yeah, I don't feel right leaving Green behind," Pidge said. She looked up from where she'd been scanning data. "Agreed."

Shiro nodded, convinced, but he still looked at Allura.

"Lions?"

Allura looked at the map, eyes half-lidded.

"Lions," she agreed grimly.

Lance could tell she still didn't like the whole idea, but this was something they had to do. If they had an enemy, they would be following a trail to figure out who was working against them. And if they had a friend… the possibilities were endless.

Coran and Allura stood together discussing the right place to wormhole, and then they were off. Blue light rippled and shivered before them. They popped through, the light swirling.

For a moment, Lance thought the Castle would shake, thought he would be torn from his teammates again. But the Castle continued steadily, and the team reappeared on the other side no worse for wear.

Looking around, he hadn't been the only one. Collectively, they all took a moment to reassure that everyone was there. Lance sighed.

"Well," Pidge said, standing up. She took off her glasses, cleaned them, and fit them back on. "Here we are."

"Nowhere," Lance said, staring out at the stars and the clusters of xanthorium, beautiful but deadly.

"Nowhere," Keith agreed, finding Lance's shoulder and gripping it as they looked out into the endless expanse.


	6. Chapter 6

**ruins** _  
chapter six_

* * *

" _Easy_. _"_ Allura's voice filtered over the comms.

She had kept her voice calm, but as Lance looked over on his dashboard towards the small screen she had appeared on, she was twisting her hands together nervously.

" _It's alright, Princess_ ," Shiro said. " _We're approaching slowly._ "

They were careful in their flight, slower than Lance would've liked. He understood the caution, though—considering they could be blown up by a stray touch of the xanthorium, it was perfectly reasonable they'd be going slow.

The five of them had split up approximately around where the coordinates they'd found were. For the time being, they were all circling, searching for any sign of a base or whatever Shiro's arm was meant to led them to.

" _It just doesn't make sense_ ," Pidge said. She sounded flummoxed. " _It just doesn't… there has to be something here, right?_ "

" _Why say that?_ "

" _Well, I mean… regardless of if there's a trap or an ally or something, it wouldn't lead to_ nowhere _, right? There's no point in putting random coordinates into Shiro's arm._ "

Not too far away, the Black Lion was hovering, staying still in the vast expanse of space. Shiro hadn't spoke in a while, seemingly deep in thought.

" _Shiro?_ " Keith ventured. " _What do you think?_ "

No response.

" _Shiro?_ " Keith tried again.

" _I,_ " Shiro said, then paused, " _I remember his face._ "

"The Galran?" Lance ventured.

" _Yeah,_ " Shiro replied.

That was the last thing any of them said for a while. When their fruitless circling led to nothing, they reconvened together while Pidge went ahead with Green, the two of them working together on a closer, more in-depth scan than the ones with the Castle.

" _Found anything yet?_ "

Coran tugged at his mustache from where he was standing on their little dashboard screens. Lance shook his head.

It was a moment later that he noticed the scrolling blue bar along the bottom of the screen that indicated their little chat was private. Lance turned off the comms in his helmet, letting Blue handle it.

"What's up?"

Coran glanced behind him, and Lance noticed Allura wasn't there.

" _Do you have any other contacts, perhaps, that might help?_ "

Lance rubbed at his chin and sighed.

"I wish I did," he said, leaning back in his seat. Blue exhaled with him. "But we've lost a lot, Coran, and it's been so busy. Don't have much of a network, to be honest."

Coran frowned. Once the advisor to the king and head spymaster of the kingdom, now he had little to go off of. It must have been frustrating, Lance thought.

" _We'll have to work on that_ ," Coran said.

"Right. Together, I guess?"

Coran tugged at his mustache again, looking rather unhappy. " _You'll have to be my eyes and ears, Lance. My role and my duty has changed… I can't be networking like I used to, but you can be out on the field. I know how the people like you._ "

"Okay," Lance said. "Right. Uh, yeah."

" _I know it's a lot to ask, my boy,_ " Coran said, _"but you are quite capable and good for the job. The more allies we have, the closer we are able to get to striking at the heart of the Galran Empire._ "

Lance had stumbled into this job by accident. He hadn't considered anything further after his trade with Nyma, but he supposed it was only a natural step from there.

" _I can keep up communications and reports,_ " Coran continued. " _A steady line of info is just what we need right now. If we can establish that, we will be better prepared for what the universe throws at us."_

Blue hummed in the back of his mind, gently informing him that the others were reaching out.

"Gotta go, Coran," Lance said, flicking his comms back on and hearing a distant murmur. "We'll talk later."

Coran nodded. " _I think we are going to make a great team, Lance._ "

He was about to close the channel when the screen flickered with red. Coran paled as Allura's voice yelled in the distance.

"Coran? What's going on?"

A repetitive wail began to sound from Coran's side of the channel. Allura burst into frame, not even blinking when she saw Lance on-screen.

" _The Castle's been breached!"_

Lance jammed his helmet on, hearing the voices of his teammates as Pidge reported on the readings she was getting.

"Breached?"

" _Lance?_ "

" _—_ _my scan—"_

" _Princess—_ "

" _I'm going to go find this intruder. Coran, stay here. Inform the others._ "

" _Princess, you cannot go face them alone!_ "

"I'm heading back to the Castle," Lance said without warning, and Blue spun on his whim. The two of them shot in the Castle's direction as Allura disappeared from the screen.

" _Lance, where are you going?_ "

"Castle," Lance shouted, twisting at the same time as Blue. "There's an intruder! No time to explain!"

" _What_ —"

Lance and Blue slammed hard into the hangar, and he leapt out, his bayard already drawn. He took off.

Around him, Coran's voice was echoing through the halls, directing the fight. Lance snorted to himself and sped in the right direction, a blaster sprouting in his hand.

When he rounded the corner, he saw Allura locked in combat with a dark-clad figure. They faltered for a moment, and Lance took advantage of it, taking a clip at their legs.

Fast, Lance noticed; his ray had barely scraped the deep armor.

" _—_ _aaaand Allura takes initiative with another swing! There they go again—"_

Lance could feel his bayard changing at will as he drew closer, his blaster elongating and becoming thinner in his hand until he was gripping his trident.

The intruder glanced his way and paused in surprise as Lance struck, driving his trident forward. It was caught with a long blade.

"Who are you?" Lance panted as they clashed again.

" _There Lance goes, striking fast and true, looking quite dashing, if I might add—_ "

"Thanks, Coran!" Lance yelled as he forced the intruder back. Allura swooped in, adding pressure from the side, but whoever this guy was, he was _good_.

That was the only thought Lance had before he was thrown clear across the hall. He blinked up, seeing stars for a moment and lying dazed as Allura's voice screamed his name in the distance.

" _And Lance takes a heavy hit, thrown right across like a schinger! Hope you're alright, Lance, as Allura swings a nasty right hook. Grab your corn-pop or pop-corn, whatever it is, and have a seat, everyone. This looks a bit deadly."_

Lance dragged himself to his feet to find the fight had moved further. He prodded at his head—he was fine, probably. Maybe a bruise or two along his leg, but otherwise no worse for the wear.

He darted forward just in time to catch the blade going for Allura's shoulder.

"Hey, man," Lance said, putting himself in between the two of them and looking where he guessed their new friend's eyes were. "That was really rude. Anyone teach you manners?"

He didn't think he'd get a response, but after a little pause the intruder spoke.

"Manners," they repeated. "You call me an intruder, but it is _you_ who came here without being invited."

"Ehh," Lance said, parrying, "I mean, you've got a point."

Then his feet were kicked out from under him, and Lance mentally took away that point.

The blade came arcing down.

Lance rolled to the side and heard metal screech, but he was moving, grabbing his opponent's wrist with one hand and holding a gun at their head with the other. A flick, and the blade was pointed at Lance's throat.

"Let _go_ of him," Allura said, and her voice was trembling with anger.

"Hey," Lance squeaked as the blade pressed against his throat. "Maybe we can talk it out? You know the old saying, uh, like, bore before you war?"

The intercom crackled. " _Good saying!_ "

They held their stalemate for another moment. Lance heard footsteps in the distance.

"It's about to get a little more crowded in here," he said softly, "so if you put the blade down, I'll put my gun down."

Something sharp pressed down at the soft skin of his throat, and Allura growled in warning.

"How did you find this place?"

Lance's eyes flicked between the figure above him to Allura and then to the blade, and he made a split second decision, lowering his right hand where it had been pressing the gun to their neck.

"Coordinates," he said, willing his thunderous voice to calm.

"Where did you get them?"

"Uh," Lance said. "I don't know if you'd believe me. It's kind of weird."

" _Where_ —"

Lance had stopped listening, an art he'd perfected over the years. Instead he was craning his neck to see the glowing symbol on the blade held to his throat.

"What is that?"

"Answer my question."

"That's not how it works. I answered your question, you can answer mine."

"Tell me—"

"Our leader had them," Lance said in a rush, ignoring Allura's sound of protest. "Our leader had them, because he was saved from the Empire with the help of someone. And we're looking for them."

He licked his lips in the silence, and very carefully added, "Looking… for you."

A beat. Two. Blue was snarling in his mind, tensed and coiled. He could see her in his mind's eye, crouching like the cat she was, tail whipping in the hunt.

"The symbol is of… my people," they finally allowed. It wasn't the whole truth, Lance could tell, but it wasn't a lie, either.

Lance closed his eyes. Thought back.

"That symbol," he said, pressing into his memories. "I've seen it before."

Seeing it again ignited a memory he'd long but forgotten. Blue pushed a word into his mind, a name that she had stored where his fickle mind hadn't.

"Marmora," Lance said, shaping his mouth around the name.

" _You_ ," a voice said, but it was wavering, unsure.

"Shiro," Allura said, all at the same time.

The footsteps stopped, and the world held its breath for a minute. Then the blade drew back as the figure turned.

Allura rushed forward, but to Lance's surprise—and the Marmoran—she went to Lance instead of lunging at the now defenseless intruder.

"Are you alright?" she said in a low voice, helping him sit up and raising a hand to where the blade had cut through thin cloth. He could feel a little blood trickling from there.

He smiled at her. "Yeah."

As Lance got to his feet and dusted himself off, Shiro was speaking to the Marmoran. He crossed over to where they were standing.

"Do you know this guy?" Lance asked, jerking his thumb in the Marmoran's direction.

Shiro raised an eyebrow, turning slightly in Lance's direction. "Do _you_?"

Lance scratched his head and then stuck out a hand.

"Lance," he said. "Blue paladin of Voltron."

For the first time, the glowing mask over the stranger's face flickered and then faded, revealing a pale face. Narrow yellow eyes stared back at him.

"Ulaz," he said slowly, taking Lance's hand gingerly like he was a bomb.

Lance looked over at Shiro and then grinned cheekily. "Now I do."

" _Lance_ ," someone groaned.

Ulaz studied him for a moment and seemed to be searching for something, a question in his eyes. He didn't look like he'd found what he was looking for, but he nodded and turned to Shiro.

"Champion," he said, and a shudder passed through Shiro.

"Ulaz," Shiro tried. "I know... I remember your face..."

Allura crossed her arms. Her guard was up, her face near impassive but for the dangerous glint in her eyes.

"Shiro, Lance," she said, her tone grave, "who is this?"

Ulaz sheathed his blade, Lance catching a last glimpse of the glowing symbol on its hilt before it disappeared beneath his armor and robes.

He bowed. "Princess Allura of Altea," he mused. "So our information is correct... you return."

Allura's gaze sharpened, and she stepped forth threateningly.

"What do you mean when you say our?" she demanded.

Lance was moving; so was Shiro, the two of them stepping forward as they felt the thick tension in the air.

"Allura," Shiro said. "Maybe we should all sit down and talk. Ulaz can explain."

When Lance looked at Ulaz, he nodded. "I have no objection, though I would like one as well."

"Deal," Lance murmured.

In the back, the others looked hesitant.

"Fine," Allura snapped. She gazed at the team, coming to a decision, and inclined her head at Keith. "If you will, fetch the handcuffs."

Shiro started to protest. "Princess, is this necessary?"

Keith's eyes slid between Ulaz, Shiro, and Allura. He nodded curtly.

Lance could get why Allura had asked Keith. He wasn't going to ask questions; he could sense a potential danger, and he looked wary. When he glanced Shiro's way, Lance saw a fierce protectiveness.

After a brief and quiet discussion, they headed to the lounge. Hunk was polite, asking Ulaz curious questions without overstepping it. Lance could tell Hunk didn't quite know what to think—he'd put his bayard away, but his shoulders were stiff.

Pidge flanked them, her fingers twisting in the empty air by her side like she wanted to be holding her bayard.

Shiro seemed the most relaxed. Like them all, he was wary—but less of the stranger and more of his own friends. Lance caught his eyes once, and it seemed to Lance they shared a goal: to protect the Marmoran as a potential ally and not a threat.

Lance hung back by Allura, looping their arms so they could walk together. He paced himself slowly so Allura would match his stride, and they fell back until they were presumably out of earshot.

"Lance?"

He sighed. "I just wanted…"

He didn't know what he wanted. There were words he was searching for, but Lance felt like he was standing in the sand, the tide pulling just short of his feet.

But some of Allura's initial anger was already fading.

Good, Lance decided. _That_ was what Lance wanted, for Allura to be able to look at the situation with a clear head.

"I don't trust him," Allura said.

"You don't have to," Lance said, pausing as the others turned the corner. Allura's face had almost turned desperate.

"He's Galra, Lance," Allura said, voice harsh. "If he's working for Zarkon, if he turns against us…"

Lance thought back to the way Ulaz had looked at Shiro like he was a breath of fresh air after years of breathing in smoke. A spark of ignited hope.

"I don't think he will."

Allura shook her head. "You don't know that."

In a low voice, Lance said, "I think Ulaz is the one that saved Shiro."

Allura's lips thinned. Her eyes were stormy but thoughtful, and she didn't reply. Finally, she took a deep breath.

"Let's go."

They were the last to arrive, the doors hissing open as they arrived arm-in-arm. Over Pidge's shoulder, Hunk wiggled his eyebrows at Lance, and Lance rolled his eyes.

Keith had shown up with handcuffs that were now fastened over Ulaz's wrists, and he'd evidently gotten Coran while he was at it. The man stood tucked against the wall, but straightened and took a step forward as Lance and Allura walked in.

"There you are," Shiro said, half-turning to face them.

"Sorry we're late," Lance said nonchalantly, hopping down to sit next to Hunk and slinging an arm around his shoulders. "Got a little caught up."

"Heh," Pidge muttered.

"Ulaz," Shiro said. "When you helped me escape… you said there were others."

Ulaz nodded slowly. Now that he knew where he was and who he was with, he seemed a bit more willing to part with information.

"The Blade of Marmora," Ulaz said.

Lance closed his eyes. An organization—a _people_ —under Marmora's name.

"Others," Hunk said. "Other crazy ninja dudes?"

Lance blinked at him. "Hey, dude, it's cool."

"I'm alone on this base," Ulaz explained. "After aiding you, I needed to be relocated to avoid suspicion. I was put on mission work for a while, but… those are not my strengths."

Allura hadn't sat down with the rest of them. Instead she stood haloed by the light like a wrathful angel.

"And your strengths?"

"Hiding. Extracting information." His eyes flicked to Shiro. "Waiting."

"Oh, oh, oh, I know what this is code-speak for," Hunk said, jabbing an excited finger in Ulaz's direction. "You're a spy!"

A smile flickered across Ulaz's face. "Perhaps not a word I would choose to describe myself, but, ah… essentially, yes."

Keith was scowling. "How do we know you're not spying on us?"

Allura had her own question. "What base do you speak of? The coordinates Shiro had led us here, to this… wasteland."

"It's hidden," Ulaz said. "Even here, we must be wary of the Empire's gaze. But if you are with Shiro, then I welcome you to the outpost."

"Where is it?" Pidge piped up. She'd pulled up a map. "Behind the clusters?"

"No," Ulaz said, and he moved closer, if a bit awkwardly. Keith watched him with hawk's eyes. "Dead ahead. A pocket of space-time, using the most advanced technology we have…"

"Coran," Allura snapped. "A pocket of space-time? Can he be serious?"

"There was… an anomaly ahead of us," Coran said, stroking his mustache. "It… well, my dear, it very well could be a cloaked base. There is reason to believe he is telling the truth."

"If you fly to the center of the xanthorium cluster, you will see."

Allura scoffed. "Lance and Shiro have convinced me to listen to you, to withhold my judgment. But this? You ask me to destroy my ship, to risk the lives of my paladins on _your_ word?"

"We are so _close_ ," Shiro said, and Lance felt the passion in his voice. "The answers are right in front of us, Princess."

But Shiro seemed to have little support. The energy in the room felt lukewarm, tepid. Hunk was worrying his lip, exchanging a concerned glance with Pidge.

Keith had gotten up and was now pacing back and forth, timing his steps with his hands clasped behind his back.

"You know I trust you, Shiro, but…"

"He could have manipulated you, Shiro," Pidge said, voice gentle. "Or the Galra could have implanted memories in your head somehow. Lance, what do you think?"

They all looked to him. Lance wanted to do something dumb, like break out into song or burst into laughter. He didn't know, either.

"Hey… you mentioned Marmora earlier, didn't you?" Keith asked.

Lance pursed his lips. "Yeah, but that's… maybe later. I want to trust Ulaz, guys. I know it's hard to believe there are Galra out there fighting Zarkon, but I think he's telling the truth."

He took a deep breath, knowing his words could determine something they weren't ready for. "I vote with Shiro. I think we need to go forward."

Mutedly, Shiro said again, "He saved my _life_ , Princess."

"Fine," Allura ordered. "Paladins, take your Lions out. I _refuse_ to risk the fate of the universe on—"

The room burst into protest.

"We're going to go together as a team," Hunk said. "No matter what we each think, we're not leaving."

Allura looked like she might cry for a moment. Then she nodded.

"Slow and steady, Coran," she said. "Onward."

 **where did the line breaks go, ffn.**

 **i don't post a/n's on ffnet like i used to or like i do on ao3, but i thought i would pop in to say hello! thank you for the support, and i just wanted to say that updates are going to be less frequent now i have a job and stuff.**

 **to see me be more active, chat, ask me questions, etc, you can find me on tumblr riftlotor.**


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